Dumping Syndrome After Gastric Surgery

It is well recognized that after any gastric operation in which the pyloric mechanism is destroyed, some patients develop postprandial symptoms which are a result of the treatment alone and not of the preexisting gastric pathology. The comparative incidence of this symptom complex, known as the dumping syndrome, after gastroenterostomy with vagotomy and partial gastrectomy, has been variously reported and is still a controversial subject.4,10,13 The clinical impression of a lower incidence and severity of the dumping syndrome after gastroenterostomy with vagotomy is one of the arguments for its preferential use in the treatment of duodenal ulcer. The present study was undertaken to obtain additional comparative data by experimentally producing dumping symptoms in 2 groups of patients, after gastroenterostomy with vagotomy, and after partial gastrectomy. Material Twenty-eight patients were investigated. Half of them had undergone a Billroth II subtotal gastrectomy with an estimated two-thirds gastric resection. The other 14