[Surgery of duodenal ulcer. In decline?]

The authors report their experience of the surgical treatment of duodenal ulcer disease and its complications over a 10 year period (1976-1986), i.e. 336 cases from a group of 10748 digestive tract endoscopies performed and 1126 duodenal ulcers identified (10.4%). The efficacy of new types of medical treatment (anti-secretory drugs, endoscopic hemostasis techniques, prostaglandins) and the improved follow-up of patients tend, despite the value and proven safety of Parietal-cell Vagotomy (elective procedure in 76% of the group), to modify: the epidemiological aspect of the disease in the sense of a decrease in the rate of ulcers with complications related to stenosis and perforation; the therapeutic aspect with more limited surgical indications. Is this the end of surgery for duodenal ulcer and its complications?