Radiographic findings in the esophagus following the Sugiura procedure.

Sixteen patients underwent a modification of the Sugiura procedure for bleeding esophageal varices, involving (a) esophageal transection, (b) splenectomy, (c) selective vagotomy, and (d) pyloroplasty. Five patients died, and the remaining 11 had barium studies of the esophagus and stomach which were compared with the preoperative appearance. Esophageal varices disappeared in 7 patients and persisted in 1. No recurrent bleeding or encephalopathy was seen: however, there were a large number of complications, including pleural effusion, ascites, ileus, pneumonia, and renal failure. Hepatic failure, respiratory failure, and sepsis secondary to gastrointestinal leakage also occurred and were fatal in all cases. As the Sugiura procedure is increasingly being employed in the United States, radiologists should be familiar with the spectrum of postoperative radiographic findings in the esophagus and stomach.