[Cancer of the gastric stump. Review of endoscopic case records].

An endoscopic series of 4610 patients examined for dyspeptic symptoms has been reviewed. The purpose was to verify the prevalence of gastric stump cancer. In 266 patients previously gastrectomized for benign peptic ulcer, 10 cases of gastric carcinoma were found (3.61%) whereas in 4344 not previously gastrectomized patients 157 gastric carcinomas were diagnosed (3.75%). Among the 10 patients affected from gastric stump carcinoma, 5 had been operated before, and 5 after, the age 45. The statistical comparison between the two groups showed a significant difference (p less than 0.02) as for the mean time intervals between surgical intervention and onset of gastric stump carcinoma, whereas the mean ages of onset of gastric stump carcinoma resulted substantially identical. We conclude that advanced age, rather than a previous gastrectomy, confers a major risk of gastric carcinoma.