Indication and Results of Surgery for Peptic Ulcer

On the experimental studies using the mongrel dogs, truncal vagotomy delayed the healing of the acetic acid ulcer which was made at the anterior wall of the gastric angle. The activities of cathepsin, one of the lysosomal enzymes, were elevated in gastric mucosa of vagotomized dogs. This elevation of the activities of cathepsin suggests the gastric mucosal damage induced by vagotomy. According to the results of these experimental studies, we consider that vagotomy cannot be adopted for gastric ulcer. Usually, we would carry out distal gastrectomy for gastric ulcer and for urgent case of duodenal ulcer. From 1969 to 1983, 108 patients of peptic ulcer were operated on at our division (gastric ulcer 49, gastroduodenal combined ulcer 17, duodenal ulcer 42). In these cases, gastrectomies were performed in 98 cases, and vagotomies in 10 selective cases of duodenal ulcer. There was only one operation death. The results of gastrectomies were reviewed