Treatment of postoperative reactive hypoglycemia by a reversed intestinal segment

Eleven men with disabling reactive hypoglycemia, in a range of 12 to 50 mg per 100 ml, were treated an average of seven years after gastric surgery with a 10 cm reversed jejunal segment. The reversal was placed at the gastric outlet in six patients and just below the ligament of Treitz in five. The former technic produced a somewhat better correction of hypoglycemia than did the latter. A good result was obtained in all eleven and none has had recurrence of seizures or fainting. Whereas the average minimal blood sugar before reversal was 34 mg per 100 ml, after reversal it was increased to 64 mg per 100 ml. The most severe hypoglycemia was noted in a patient after vagotomy and pyloroplasty. We recommend that all patients with dumping syndrome undergo glucose tolerance tests and plasma insulin determinations to ascertain whether they have reactive hypoglycemia. It is our conclusion that introduction of a reversed jejunal segment can control refractory reactive hypoglycemia resulting from previous gastric surgery.