[Morbidity and mortality after elective Billroth II gastric resection in duodenal ulcer. Authors' experience]

A retrospective study was carried out those patients who underwent elective Billroth II gastric resection for pyloric or duodenal ulcer at the Surgical Division of the Scientific Institute of Gastroenterology of Castellana Grotte between 1974 and 1989. The aim of the study was to asses the incidence of postoperative morbidity and mortality. A total of 526 patients were included in the study (mean age 49 years +/- 12 years; 451 males (86%) and 75 females (14%). Morbidity was 20.7% and mortality 1.5%. These findings are in line with those reported in the literature and confirm that gastric resection for duodenal ulcer, even when performed electively, has a far from negligible morbidity and mortality rate. It is well known that, in comparison to more conservative operations such as vagotomy, gastric resection for peptic ulcer presents a high rate of postoperative morbidity and mortality, but a lower incidence of ulcerous recidivation. Unless there are valid preoperative criteria on which to base the choice of one or other techniques, the surgeon will usually choose the method with which the is most familiar. until studies have been carried out to identify the risk factors leading to postoperative morbidity and mortality, the authors suggest that gastric resection is reserved for those patients presenting a low operative risk.