Common bile duct pressure during enflurane anesthesia. Effects of morphine and subsequent naloxone.

In ten otherwise healthy patients undergoing cholecystectomy and cholangiography, morphine sulfate, in a dose of 2.5 mg/70 kg body weight, significantly elevated common bile duct pressure, as measured by water manometry, two and five minutes after intravenous injection. There was no added effect from an additional 7.5 mg/70 kg, measured two and five minutes after injection. Naloxone hydrochloride, in a dose of 1.0 mg/70 kg body weight, quickly reversed the increase in pressure caused by the morphine. Radiographic contrast material passed into the duodenum in every patient after administration of naloxone.

Nissen fundoplication for reflux peptic esophagitis.

One hundred sixty-five patients with reflux peptic esophagitis have been treated by Nissen fundoplication. When compared with a group of 104 patients reported five years ago, the incidence of persistent or recurrent esophagitis remains approximately the same (10% versus 8%). This is consistent with the assumption that the Nissen procedure when initially successful tends to remain so and that late recurrence appears to be uncommon. The unpleasant postoperative sequela which we have termed the "gas-bloat syndrome" was noted in 1971 to be present in the early postoperative period in approximately one-half the patients. Late follow-up, however, averaging four years indicates a marked reduction in this disorder with either absence or clinical insignificance in 87% of patients. Nonetheless, moderate symptoms persist in 11% and severe symptoms requiring active treatment in 2%. Manometric study of the lower esophageal sphincter indicates nearly a three-fold increase in resting pressure following Nissen fundoplication (p less than .001). It is hoped that manometric study will provide a more reliable prognostic measure of sphincter restoration than the measurement of pH across the gastroesophageal junction.

Experience with the jejunal loop interposition in the treatment of postgastrectomy disorders.

In the past 10 years 115 patients has revisional gastric surgery at the University of Florida. Twenty-seven patients had jejunal loop interposition to treat the different postgastrectomy disorders. While this procedure may provide relief of symptoms when used to treat several types of post-gastrectomy disorders, its best application is in patients with the severe form of postprandial dumping syndrome. When used in isoperistaltic fashion with an anti-dumping diet, the results are excellent.

Reoperation for postsurgical peptic ulcer recurrence: appraisal of ten years' experience.

Between January 1, 1965 and December 31, 1974, 47 patients were treated at the University of Florida Affiliated Hospitals for peptic ulcer after a generally acceptable ulcer operation. Twenty-seven patients had had vagotomy and drainage, four patients had had vagotomy and antrectomy and 16 patients had had partial gastric resection. Forty-nine definitive operations were performed with a 4% operative mortality. Three patients (7%) had another ulcer recurrence following surgery. Left transthoracic vagotomy is the treatment of choice when recurrent ulceration follows subtotal gastrectomy or vagotomy and antrectomy. For ulceration following vagotomy and drainage, antrectomy, antrectomy is preferred. Synergism between hormonal and neural gastric stimulants causes a decreased parietal cell responsiveness to vagal stimulation after antrectomy. Exploration of the hiatus at the time of antrectomy increases the morbidity of the procedure. Should ulcers recur after antrectomy, vagotomy may be performed with a low morbidity through the transthoracic approach.

Occurrence of gastric ulcer after Nissen fundoplication.

Of 160 patients who underwent Nissen fundoplication for treatment of symptomatic peptic reflux esophagitis, five patients (3.1%) developed gastric ulcers. Four of these five patients experienced the "gas-bloat" syndrome. All ulcers were located on the lesser curvature of the stomach. Analyses of our experience with use of various types of hiatal hernia repair suggests that creation of the valvuloplastic mechanism unique to the Nissen procedure may be of etiologic significance in the development of gastric ulcers following this procedure.

Use of Roux-en-Y diversion of duodenal secretions in the treatment of reflux gastritis.

Animal experiments and clinical studies suggest that duodenal secretions may be harmful to gastric mucosa after the antrum has been resected. Reflux of duodenal secretions into the gastric remnant after operation for ulcer disease may lead to the symptom complex of reflux gastritis. The injurious agent in the duodenal secretions has yet to be identified. Its relationship to altered gastric mucosa has not been fully elucidated. Diversion of the flow of duodenal secretions away from the stomach may relieve symptoms. Of several surgical procedures used, the Roux-en-Y limb has consistently afforded the best clinical result. Presented are 15 patients who had Roux-en-Y diversion for postoperative reflux gastritis. All patients showed marked improvement after this procedure. Twelve patients also had associated esophagitis. All original procedures were for benign ulcer disease. Three of the patients, who had Henley jejunal loop interpositions, continued to have symptoms which were relieved after conversion to a Roux-en-Y limb.

Gastric remnant carcinoma.

Over 1200 cases of carcinoma of the gastric remnant have been reported in the literature. There is an increase of this type of carcinoma in postoperative stomachs with atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia. The cause and effect relationships remain to be fully elucidated. In patients with late postgastrectomy symptoms, carcinoma of the gastric remnant should be considered in the differential diagnosis. In a study of 350 asymptomatic patients who were more than 20 years from Billroth II gastric resection, 14 carcinomas were discovered in the region of the stoma. Preoperatively, gross endoscopic appearance and multiple biopsies will usually provide the diagnosis. At the time of revisional surgery, frozen section of gastric biopsies or the resected specimen may be necessary to exclude the diagnosis. At present there is widespread interest in several procedures in the treatment of benign ulcer disease. In selected patients, proximal gastric vagotomy is receiving particular interest. It remains to be determined what, if any, gastric mucosal alterations occur. Since the pyloric mechanism is intact, no stoma is created and no portion of the stomach resected; long-term followup of these patients will be of interest. Information as to the cause of gastric remnant carcinoma can be forthcoming only by evaluation of all groups of patients requiring gastric surgery for benign disease. At the same time, further investigation of patients with gastric carcinoma without prior resection who have atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia is also necessary. The histologic type of carcinoma that develops in the gastric remnant is usually more favorable for surgical cure than those seen in the intact stomach. This means that early diagnosis by radiologic and endoscopic study of postgastrectomy patients developing symptoms is highly desirable. Because of the long interval between gastrectomy and gastric remnant carcinoma these patients are often in the older age group. The location of the lesion in the remaining proximal stomach will nearly always require total gastrectomy. This plus the age factor means that the operative mortality will be rather high. We are unable to explain why in 22 years of observing postgastrectomy patients we have seen only one case of gastric remnant carcinoma. This patient was successfully treated by left transpleural transdiaphragmatic total gastrectomy with Roux-en-Y esophagojejunostomy. This method is particulary easy in the patient who has has an antecolic Billroth II gastrectomy. If the jejunum cannot be adequately mobilized through a radial incision extending laterally from the esophageal hiatus, we use a peripheral diaphragmatic incision in circumferential fashion. This gives excellent exposure of the upper abdominal contents and also preserves the phrenic nerve. As a result, ventilatory function of the left leaf of the diaphragm is preserved postoperatively.

The early postprandial dumping syndrome: prevention and treatment.

The early postprandial dumping syndrome can be prevented or minimized by the appropriate selection of the operative procedure to fit the patient and the peptic ulcer problem he presents, and by proper attention to diet in the early postoperative period. When it does occur, the syndrome usually responds favorably to dietary management and tends to spontaneously regress in severity with time. For these reasons further surgery is seldom required for the early postprandial dumping syndrome. In the patient who fails to improve with diet therapy and time and has disabling symptoms often accompanied by progressive malnutrition, revisional surgery should be undertaken. It is the objective of the surgeon to alter the reconstruction in such a way that emptying from the stomach or gastric remnant is delayed. Therefore, the upper small intestine dose not receive a large, rapidly introduced hyperosmolar bolus to initiate the release of humoral substances causing the syndrome. All revisions utilized are potentially ulcerogenic and if vagotomy has not been a part of the original procedure, it should routinely be performed at the time of revision. Patients who have primarily has a Billroth II gastrectomy will frequently improve markedly with simple conversion to a Billroth I reconstruction. This is particularly true when the residual stomach is moderately large (i.e., after antrectomy) and when the gastrojejunal stoma is larger in diameter than the normal jejunum. Under such circumstances approximately 80 per cent of patients will improve sufficiently so that a more complex procedure need not be utilized at once. Under all other conditions we prefer a 10 cm. segment of reversed jejunum anastomosed proximally to the gastric stump and distally to a 40 cm. isoperistaltic Roux-en-Y jejunal limb. This procedure is so successful that one can justify its use as first recourse even in the anatomically favorable Billroth II patient. It should be pointed out emphatically that an isoperistaltic jejunal interposition (Henley loop) has little or no effect on the early postprandial dumping syndrome and should not be considered. Plicated loops of intestine to recreate a gastric reservoir frequently fail to empty satisfactorily and the incidence of satisfactory results is too low to consider their utilization in surgical treatment of the dumping syndrome.

The afferent loop syndrome.

The afferent loop syndromes result from obstruction to the afferent jejunal loop. Acute ALS results from complete obstruction, usually occurs early after surgery and runs a devastatingly lethal course unless promptly treated by reoperation. In chronic ALS the obstruction is intermittent and produces a clinical syndrome from which a diagnostic histroy can usually be obtained. Although the exact incidence is unknown, it is certainly not rare, especially in antecolic Billroth II gastrectomies. Treatment consists of doing away with the afferent loop. In gastroenterostomy alone takedown of the anastomosis with a Weinberg pyloroplasty is the treatment of choice. The safest and simplest treatment for patients whose original operation was Billroth II gastrectomy is conversion to a Roux-en-Y procedure. In all cases vagotomy should be added unless previously performed. No medical treatment is available and patients with no other contraindication should have revisional surgery if symptoms are clinically significant. Both acute and chronic afferent loop syndromes should be completely prevented by appropriate choice of the initial operative procedure. The vagotomized stomach should be drained by pyloroplasty, not gastrojejunostomy. Vagotomy and antrectomy should be reconstructed with a Billroth I gastroduodenostomy. The Braun enteroanastomosis should be utilized after subtotal gastrectomy for carcinoma. The wider application of parietal cell vagotomy for duodenal ulcer deserves close observation and further consideration.

Alkaline reflux gastritis.

Any surgical procedure that ablates the pyloric sphincter mechanism permits increased reflux of duodenal fluid into the stomach or gastric remnant. Although it is reported as most common with Billroth II gastrectomy, our experience indicates that reflux is nearly as frequent after Billroth I gastroduodenostomy and is not at all infrequent after pyloroplasty. The precise constituents of duodenal fluid which damage the gastric mucosa remain controversial. The best present evidence is that the bile acids are probably essential, but that one or more other constituents of duodenal content are also necessary. The clinical history differs significantly from chronic afferent loop syndrome in that the quality of pain is different, pain tends to be more continuous and less closely related to food-taking, and bile vomiting does not provide dramatic relief, often containing food due to coexistent interference with gastric emptying. Diagnosis is confirmed by gross endoscopic findings and characteristic histopathologic changes in the endoscopic biopsies. Treatment with an interposed isoperistaltic jejunal segment has been disappointing. Only four of ten patients experienced lasting relief, indicating that the relatively short 10 to 12 cm. of jejunum does not adequately prevent duodenogastric reflux. We have, therefore, shifted to the Roux-en-Y duodenal diversion implanting the afferent limb 40 cm. caudad to the gastrojejunostomy. Results have been excellent in 24 of 25 cases with prompt improvement in gastric emptying, absence of bile vomiting, progressive regression in abdominal distress and progressive improvement in nutrition. Endoscopic evaluation at three to four months has indicated marked gross improvement and striking histologic improvement in 23 of 25 cases. The question is raised whether the Roux-en-Y reconstruction should not be used primarily, particularly if both vagotomy and antrectomy are to be performed for peptic ulcer. Both the afferent loop syndrome and alkaline reflux gastritis would be prevented, and it is doubted that the incidence of marginal ulcer would increase appreciably.

Changes in canine gastric acid output and serum gastrin levels following massive small intestinal resection.

Vagally denervated (Heidenhain) pouch acid outputs and serum gastrin concentrations, basal and in response to feeding, were measured in dogs before and after massive intestinal resection. Both 24-hr and postprandial Heidenhain pouch acid outputs increased (P less than 0.01) after intestinal resection. Increases in serum gastrin concentrations following feeding were greater after massive resection of the small intestine. There was an excellent correlation (r= 0.967; P less than 0.005) between increases in serum gastrin concentrations and Heidenhain pouch acid outputs after intestinal resection. These studies support and are consistent with the hypothesis that the polypeptide hormone gastrin plays a role in the production of the gastric acid hypersecretion which, in both dogs and man, frequently results from massive resection of the small intestine.

A clinical evaluation of postoperative alkaline reflux gastritis.

Alkaline reflux gastritis is by far most common following gastric operations, but its true incidence remains to be determined. It is a distinct postgastrectomy disorder with unique features from other postgastrectomy syndromes. Eight patients with the diagnosis of postoperative alkaline reflux gastritis are presented. Five patients had Henley jejunal loop interposition procedures and two had takedown of their gastroenterostomy and pyloroplasty. One patient had a Roux-en-Y jejunojejunostomy after a vagotomy and pyloroplasty. A Henley jejunal loop failed to relieve the symptoms in one patient and a Roux-en-Y jejunojejunostomy brought complete relief of symptoms. Six of the eight patients had esophagitis. The frequent coexistence of alkaline esophagitis and alkaline gastritis must be considered in both treatment.