[Life expectancy after gastric resection for gastroduodenal ulcer]

Retrospective analysis of 1045 patients who had had a Billroth II partial gastric resection for benign gastroduodenal ulcers revealed a significantly shorter life expectancy for them than for a control group matched for age and sex (mean and maximal periods of observation 14.6 and 22 years, median 17.6 years; 15 217 observation years). After resection for duodenal ulcer there were more deaths from bronchial carcinoma, liver cirrhosis or suicide than after resection for gastric ulcer. Gastric stump carcinoma was more frequent in patients with gastric ulcer and was the cause of death in 5.8% of all patients who had died after the fifth postoperative year. The results suggest that life expectancy after gastric resection depends less on the operation than on the existing risk factors.