Bile reflux after duodenal ulcer surgery. A study of 114 asymptomatic and symptomatic patients

The hypothesis has been examined that the quantity of enteral contents refluxing into the stomach affects the severity of symptoms after peptic ulcer surgery. 99mTc HIDA scintigraphy was used to investigate the incidence and quantity of reflux in 20 normal subjects, in 94 symptomatic or asymptomatic patients after traditional operations for duodenal ulcer, and after revision of surgery for bile reflux gastritis. The percentage of the injected dose of 99mTc HIDA (PID) counted in the stomach area was used as an index of the quantity of refluxed bile. After duodenal ulcer surgery, symptomatic patients had a PID (6.2%) not significantly different (4.5%) from that of asymptomatic patients but higher than (2.1%) that of normals (p less than 0.05). After operations for reflux gastritis, 10 symptom free patients had no reflux, whereas 3 of 8 patients who remained symptomatic and had a short Roux-en-Y gastrojejunostomy, had persistent reflux.