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Background: Recently, gastric stapling with posterior truncal vagotomy has been performed, either by conventional or laparoscopic surgery, as an alternative to highly selective vagotomy and the Taylor procedure for the treatment of chronic duodenal ulcer. Our aim was to investigate the longterm effects after a stapling-modified Taylor procedure, conventional and laparoscopic, on gastric secretion and emptying and on clinical indices and recurrence rates in patients treated for duodenal ulcer before 1994. Study Design: Thirty-one patients, aged 40 to 76 years (mean 53 years), were treated between 1986 and 1993, 21 by conventional and 10 by a laparoscopic stapling-modified Taylor procedure. Outcomes were studied for gastric acid secretion, solid and liquid gastric emptying, euterogastric reflux, endoscopic findings, and clinical indices using the Visick grading. Results: Endoscopy revealed a healing ulcer in 29 patients. Two patients showed signs of chronic ulcerative disease with mild symptoms, without gastritis or pyloric stenosis indicative of progressive ulcerative diathesis, and were classified as Visick III. Twenty-four patients were classified as Visick I and 5 as Visick II. The enterogastric reflux index ranged from 0% to 27%, and basal and peak acid output were 1.5 ± 0.6 mmol H + /h and 12.2 ± 6.4 mmol H + /h, respectively. The half-emptying time of solid and liquid meals was 78 ± 9 minutes and 18 ± 6 minutes, respectively. These results are likely to be similar to those obtained from the series of patients who underwent highly selective vagotomy or Taylor procedure and are close to those achieved in healthy controls. Conclusions: This modification of the original Taylor operation (conventional and laparoscopic) allows a more rapid, technically easier, and radical performance of the operation with excellent longterm results and should be considered an effective alternative for the treatment of duodenal ulcer.

OBJECTIVE AND SUMMARY BACKGROUND: Symptomatic, medically resistant postgastrectomy patients with alkaline reflux gastritis (ARG) have increased enterogastric reflux (EGR) documented by quantitative radionuclide biliary scanning. Even asymptomatic patients after gastrectomy have increased EGR compared with nonoperated control patients. Roux-en-Y biliary diversion, although successfully treats the clinical syndrome of ARG, has a high incidence of early and late postoperative severe gastroparesis, Roux limb retention (the Roux syndrome), or both, which often requires further remedial surgery. As an alternative to Roux-en-Y diversion, this review evaluates the efficacy of the Braun enteroenterostomy (BEE) in diverting bile away from the stomach in patients having gastric operations. Based on previous pilot studies, the BEE is positioned 30 cm from the gastroenterostomy. METHODS: Thirty patients had the following operations and were evaluated: standard pancreatoduodenectomy (8), vagotomy and Billroth II (BII) gastrectomy (6), BII gastrectomy only (10), and palliative gastroenterostomy to an intact stomach (6). All anastomoses were antecolic BII with a long afferent limb and a 30-cm BEE. Four symptomatic patients with medically intractable ARG and chronic gastroparesis had subtotal BII gastric resection with BEE rather than Roux-en-Y diversion. Eight control symptomatic patients and six asymptomatic patients with previous BII gastrectomy and no BEE were evaluated. Radionuclide biliary scanning was performed within 30 days in all patients and at 4 to 6 months in 14 patients. Bile reflux was expressed as an EGR index (%). RESULTS: After operation, 18 of 34 patients (53%) had no demonstrable EGR while in the fasting state for as long as 90 minutes. The range of demonstrable bile reflux (EGR) in the remaining 16 patients was from 2% to 17% (mean, 4.5%). Enterogastric reflux in the 14 control patients (with no BEE) ranged from 5% to 82% (mean, 42%). The four patients with ARG and chronic gastroparesis treated by subtotal gastrectomy and BEE had postoperative EGR of 0%, 2%, 2%, and 4%, respectively. They are asymptomatic with no evidence of bile reflux gastritis. In the 14 patients who had late evaluation, EGR ranged from 0% to 16% (mean, 5.5%). No patient had signs or symptoms of ARG after operation. CONCLUSIONS: Braun enteroenterostomy successfully diverts a substantial amount of bile from the stomach. The ARG syndrome might be prevented by performing BEE during gastric resection or bypass in a variety of operations. Conversion to a BII with BEE may be an alternative to Roux-en-Y diversion in treating medically resistant ARG and subsequent may avoid the Roux syndrome.

Hepatobiliary imaging with Tc-99m-HIDA was performed on a 57-year-old woman with partial situs inversus. Scans showed reflux of radioactive material into the right side of the stomach.

One hundred fourteen patients with suspected acute cholecystitis underwent morphine-augmented cholescintigraphy. The 115 studies were reviewed first to determine the incidence of enterogastric reflux under these conditions. Overall, enterogastric reflux was observed in 85/115 (74%), occurring only after intravenous morphine sulfate in the majority (59%, 50/85). Noted prior to morphine in 41% (35/85), the degree of enterogastric reflux increased noticeably directly following drug administration in over half of these cases. Surgical diagnoses were established in 73/114 (64%) patients as follows: 56 (77%) acute cholecystitis, 15 (20%) chronic cholecystitis, and 2 (3%) another entity (normal gallbladder and tumor encasement). These pathologically proven cases were examined more closely to address the diagnostic significance of enterogastric reflux during morphine-augmented cholescintigraphy. Enterogastric reflux was demonstrated in the majority of not only those with acute cholecystitis (48/56, 86%), but also those with chronic cholecystitis (12/15, 80%). A frequent but nonspecific finding, enterogastric reflux appears to be a pathophysiologic phenomenon that may be enhanced synergistically, at least to some degree, in patients requiring morphine-augmented cholescintigraphy.

Enterogastric reflux occurs in normal and abnormal conditions. When pronounced, it is a nonspecific indicator of pathology. There are relatively few published reports discussing enterogastric reflux as a prominent finding on cholescintigraphy. A unique case of pronounced enterogastric reflux from an obstructing duodenal hematoma is presented.

We evaluated the significance of bile seen in the stomach at the time of endoscopy. Twenty-three percent of 110 consecutive patients undergoing elective panendoscopy were found to have bile in their stomachs. Gastric biopsies were obtained from these patients. To assess the significance of bile reflux, the patients underwent a quantitative gastric bile analysis on two separate days. On day 1, gastric juice was aspirated by nasogastric suction, and bile acid concentrations were measured. On day 2, bile reflux into the stomach was quantitated by scintiscan measurement of gastric nucleotide after intravenous administration of 99mTc-DISIDA. Approximately half the patients with bile reflux showed histologic evidence of mucosal injury. However, fewer than half with histologic injury had significant bile reflux when measured by quantitative methods. There was no correlation among the gastric bile acid concentration, degree of histologic injury, or severity of endoscopic changes. We conclude that finding bile reflux at endoscopy is probably of no clinical significance.

We studied the effect of graded antral distension on gallbladder contraction both when gastrin release was promoted (alkaline distension) and when gastrin release was blocked (acid distension) in five dogs provided with innervated antral pouch, chronic bile fistula and gastric fistula. Graded distension of the antrum caused graded gallbladder contraction as evidenced by bilirubin output even when gastrin release was completely suppressed. This nongastrin mechanism of gallbladder contraction is abolished by parenteral atropine and by transthoracic truncal vagotomy. These observations provide evidence for a cholinergic, pyloro-cholecystic reflex for gallbladder contraction that is dependent on intact long vagal pathways. Similar reflex mechanisms have been shown to be initiated by antral distension and to cause pancreatic enzyme secretion (pyloro-pancreatic reflex) or acid secretion from the oxyntic gland area of the stomach (pyloro-oxyntic reflex). It would appear, therefore, that the antrum plays a central role in the integration of upper gastrointestinal function not only through the hormone gastrin but also through neural reflex mechanisms.

We have studied the accuracy of diagnostic methods in achieving a diagnosis in 75 patients with 81 proven episodes of recurrent ulceration. When the endoscopic findings did not permit an accurate diagnosis, radiology usually provided no additional information. The sensitivity of a combined diagnostic approach was not different from that of endoscopy alone, and so the routine use of upper GI radiographs in addition to endoscopy should, therefore, be abandoned. We also assessed observer variation among endoscopists prospectively in 38 patients investigated for dyspepsia after operation for peptic ulcer. Major observer variation in diagnosing suspected recurrent ulceration occurred in 11% of patients, with a sensitivity and specificity higher than 77 and 94%, respectively. As not all the postoperative gastroduodenojejunal mucosal breaches are peptic, we suggest that acid output and enterogastric reflux assessments are useful diagnostic adjuncts to endoscopy.

Enterogastric reflux gastritis and esophagitis is best known after gastric resections and pyloroplasty but it also occurs spontaneously in the nonoperated patient. Forty-two patients are presented who meet the criteria for the diagnosis: constant burning epigastric pain, worse after meals, unrelieved by antacids and diet; endoscopic demonstration of a gastric bile pool; endoscopic biopsy proof of gastritis and esophagitis; and hypochlorhydria. Patients with mild and moderate stages of the disease can benefit from metoclopramide therapy which improves the gastric emptying mechanism. Of the surgical patients with intractable symptoms, 90% were women, 90% had marked hypochlorhydria, 83% had biliary disease, current or remote, and 50% had anemia. With vagotomy, antrectomy, and Roux-Y anastomosis 45-60 cm downstream, the clinical response has been most encouraging.