Erosive gastritis and duodenitis: causes, diagnosis and treatment

Gastritis is a condition encompassing a spectrum of gastric mucosal lesions, and typically is characterized by changes and usually erosions. It frequently causes symptoms such as epigastric pain, dyspeptic syndromes, and occasionally upper gastrointestinal bleeding. The term comes from the Greek words gastḗr gastrós, meaning “inflammatory process (inflammation/ heat) affecting the stomach”. Etiology includes infectious causes (e.g., Helicobacter pylori), drug-induced lesions (e.g., nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), alcohol, autoimmune diseases (autoimmune gastritis), and other less frequent causes. Diagnosis usually involves targeted testing and upper endoscopy with biopsies to stratify and identify the etiology. Treatment is typically directed at the causative agent, as appropriate, in conjunction with acid suppression using proton pump inhibitors or, in individualized contexts, selective potassium-competitive acid blockers. Since clinically and etiopathogenically gastritis shares mechanisms and is indistinguishable from duodenal inflammation (duodenitis), this revision considers both entities from a pragmatic point of view and narratively synthesizes a practical, evidence-based approach to addressing this issue.