The effect of healing on bile reflux in gastric ulcer

Bile reflux has been studied by serial estimations of bile acid concentrations in the stomach before and after a liquid meal. Thirteen normal subjects and 38 patients with gastric ulcer were examined. Thirty-one in the ulcer group had the test repeated once or twice within two months of the initial test to observe any change in reflux associated with healing. Patients with gastric ulcer had significantly higher concentrations of bile acids than normal subjects, both before and after the meal, although there was an overlap between the groups. In patients with an ulcer which healed or showed some healing over two months, no consistent change in reflux was found.