Do women do worse after proximal gastric vagotomy?

The view that woman fare worse than men following gastric surgery led us to examine the results of proximal gastric vagotomy (PGV) performed in 25 women with chronic duodenal ulcer. Follow-up was from 6 months to 8 years, with an average of 45 months. These were compared with men undergoing PGV for the same condition over the same period. The age, duration of symptoms and complication and recurrence rates were similar. Modified Visick grading rated the result as good as in more than 90 per cent of both men and women. Flatulence and postprandial fullness were the most common complaints but were usually mild. The results of PGV in women are just as good as those in men.