[Gastrectomy at the peak of gastric hemorrhage]

Two patients have been operated at the acme of gastric hemorrhage: one of them had disseminated gastric and the other--combination of giant bleeding ulcer with total acute hemorrhagic-erosive gastritis. Gastrectomy was performed. The former patient recovered, the latter died of hemorrhagic shock 36 hours after the operation. Inferences are drawn on the need of emergency fiber gastroscopy for exact diagnosis of the hemorrhage and early operative intervention in an optimal term after the possibilities for nonoperative treatment have been exhausted. Indications are determined for gastrectomy at the acme of the hemorrhage as a radical operation promising a better outlook during the postoperative period.