Surgical treatment of peptic ulceration

Evidence continues to accrue that proximal gastric vagotomy is a safe and effective elective operation for duodenal ulcer. Recurrent ulceration remains the major shortcoming of the procedure but reoperation is rarely required. Laparoscopic surgery for peptic ulcer disease is rapidly evolving with anterior seromyotomy and posterior truncal vagotomy emerging as the elective procedure of choice. Perforated ulcer can also be treated by laparoscopic techniques in some cases. Hemorrhage is often amenable to initial endoscopic control measures, but when surgery is required, a definitive acid-reducing operation should be employed. Ulcerogenic drug use appears to be responsible for an increasing number of emergency interventions for life-threatening peptic ulcer complications, although simple closure of perforation due to such drugs may be sufficient surgical treatment. Long-term follow-up data suggest that there is a real risk increase for gastric remnant cancer development 20 years after partial gastrectomy for peptic ulcer but the value of regular endoscopic screening of patients at risk has not been demonstrated. The long-acting somatostatin analogue, octreotide acetate, has been shown to ameliorate the symptoms of the postoperative dumping syndrome markedly, although the mechanism of action remains largely unknown.