Results of elective duodenal ulcer surgery in women: comparison of truncal vagotomy and antrectomy, gastric selective vagotomy and pyloroplasty, proximal gastric vagotomy.

This study provides a retrospective comparative analysis of results in 90 women patients who underwent three different elective operations for intractable duodenal ulcer disease. Group I (30 patients) underwent truncal vagotomy/antrectomy (TV + A); group II (30 patients) gastric selective vagotomy/pyloroplasty (GSV + P); and Group III proximal gastric vagotomy (PGV). There were no operative deaths among the 90 patients. No patient after TV + A has developed a recurrent ulcer. Two recurrent ulcers developed after GSV + P, and one gastric ulcer occurred after PGV. Dumping, diarrhea, and reflux gastritis were lower after PGV than with TV + A and GSV + P. Follow-up studies have been from six months to ten years. The clinical results among the three groups of women patients compare favorably with results obtained in a recent prospective randomized study using the identical operative procedures in three groups of men patients operated upon for intractability. There was no statistically significant difference between women and men after similar operative procedures, but the postgastrectomy sequelae were less after PGV in both women and men patients.