the true incidence of primary peptic ulcer disease in children is unknown because ulcers often spontaneously heal before a diagnosis is made. Only five to seven children are diagnosed with a gastric or duodenal ulcer per 2500 hospital admissions each year. H.pylori infection has been found in approximately 80% of children with duodenal ulcers. secondary ulcers in children occur as a result of NSAID use or the physiologic stress associated with a critical illness such as severe burns, sepsis, shock or an intracranial lesion.