Bone mineral after partial gastrectomy II.

The bone mineral content estimated by gamma ray attenuation method, serum calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, and protein was examined in three types of patients with peptic ulcer. The bone mineral content in ulcer patients before surgery did not differ from that of the control series. In patients subjected to 1/3 gastric resection and Billroth I reconstruction with or without selective vagotomy 3.3-8.5 years previously, and in patients subjected to 2/3 gastric resection with Billroth II reconstruction 15-18 years earlier, the mineral density of bone was found to be lower than in a control series of matched age and sex. The mineral loss developed sooner in women than in men. Low serum calcium values were met most often in patients examined 3.3 to 8.5 years after surgery. The serum alkaline phosphatase level increased after surgery. However, there was no difference in bone mineral density in patient groups with low calcium or high alkaline phosphatase, compared with patients with normal values. In conclusion, gastric resection of 1/3 or 2/3 of the stomach, with or without vagotomy, using gastroduodenostomy or gastroenterostomy as the reconstruction, results in a lowering of bone mineral density. This decrease, however, was not found to have caused symptoms injurious to the health of patients examined in this study.