[Surgical treatment of peptic ulcer]

Despite a decreasing number of operations for ulcer, there are many patients who require definitive treatment. If an operation is required for duodenal ulcer, vagotomy of some type is part of the treatment, and in gastric ulcer resection with or without vagotomy is required. Extended proximal gastric vagotomy can be performed in the majority of patients, excluding those who are unstable or have severe concomitant diseases. In cases of urgent surgery for hemorrhage or perforation, the surgical procedure must be selected individually. Although the role of traditional operations is well established, there is increasing interest in laparoscopic approaches. However, because there is a diminishing of elective surgery for ulcer, it is unlikely that these new procedures may be evaluated as operations were evaluated in the past.