[Postoperative complications in the Billroth I gastrectomy]

A series of 234 patients who underwent Billroth I gastric resection for gastric and duodenal ulcerous lesions is reported. Special attention is paid to the immediate postoperative complications whose incidence was 5.5%. Particularly serious is the dehiscence of gastroduodenal anastomosis which requires emergency reconversion intervention, namely gastrojejunostomy with sinking of the duodenal stump.