An analysis of when patients eat after gastrojejunostomy

Eighty-five patients who underwent a gastrojejunostomy either alone or in conjunction with vagotomy or gastric resection were evaluated for the day of beginning an oral intake adequate enough to sustain nonoliguric output. This occurred on the average by the seventh to eighth postoperative day, by which time at least 78% of patients were consuming an adequate oral intake. Adequate liquid intake occurred on the average 5.3 days in the absence of vagotomy and 8.8 days in the presence of vagotomy. However, this significant difference is accounted for by the patients who had gastrojejunostomy with vagotomy. Vagotomy with antrectomy, antrectomy alone, and subtotal gastrectomy were not significantly different. The apparent influence of vagotomy on gastrojejunostomy may be due to a type II statistical error. However, 92% of patients who had vagotomy with pyloroplasty consumed adequate liquids by the seventh postoperative day compared with 56% of patients who had vagotomy with gastrojejunostomy.