ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Chirurgia 2001 February;14(1):9-12

Copyright © 2001 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: Italian

The distal gastrectomy procedure associated with gastric-duodenal anastomosis preserves duodenal physiology and gives better nutrition and quality of life. Personal experience

Ragazzi R., Pace G., Cremona S., Vaccaro R., Di Pietro S., Buttafuoco A., Pluchino D., Ragazzi S.

Background. In the introduction the authors refer how Billroth II gastric resection was in the past the surgical procedure more used to treat peptic ulcer and its complications. Dumping syndrome and bad absorption are the symptoms with higher percentage of incidence. For these reasons and for the better outcomes of gastric resection and gastro-duodenal anastomosis with Billroth I technique, the authors have changed surgical technique.
Methods. This way of operating was used to treat 212 patients 45 of which had gastric ulcer, 138 had complicated duodenal ulcer and in the last five years the authors used e technique in 29 cases for gastric cancer of the distal side (first stage), to provide the patients with a better quality of life and a better nutritional state.
Results. The 75% of patients were free of disease after their gastric-resection. The small stomach syndrome was observed in the 10% of patients but it regressed during the last year.
Conclusions. The authors confirm that using Billroth I procedure every time it was possible (212 cases), the outcomes were better because the patients had a more satisfying postoperative course and weight gain. These results are achieved due to the sparing of duodenal digestion so useful for the digestive physiology.