[The carcinoma of the gastric stump--clinical experiences and observations in 15 years (author's transl)].

From 1960 to 1975 29 patients were treated at our clinic for carcinoma of the gastric stump following resection for benign causes. These cases are casuistically put together and their history, clinic, method of operation, and course after operation are described. 2.38p.c. of all carcinomas of the stomach were carcinomas of the stump. The patients were averagely 38.9 years old at the time of resection for benign causes; they were averagely 60.6 years old at the time of diagnosis of the carcinoma. The so called free interval was therefore 22.2 years. The younger a patient is at the time of primary resection, the longer the free interval will be. The history of complaints lasted 3.4 months; main complaints were pains in the epigastrium, loss of weight, vomiting, and aversion for meat. The carcinomas were located in 60p.c. at the anastomosis, in 36p.c. at the cardia of the stomach. Other locations were distributed over the whole gastric stump. 14 patients could be subjected to gastrectomy with interposition of jejunum, while the rest of the cases were primarily inoperable or were treated with prothesis. All types of carcinomas of the stomach were found in the stump, in 56p.c. the adeno-carcinoma prevailed. 32p.c. of the patients died in the clinic; 17 patients could leave the clinic more or less complaintless. These patients were on the average 24.8 days in the clinic and survived at home averagely 8.5 months. In the introduction, the discussion and on a table the informations of other workers are discussed and their results compared with our findings. We come impressively to the conclusion, that a resection for ulcer is no predisposing factor in the development of a carcinoma of the gastric stump. This causal connection may be established, when wide range statistics are available, which are compiled under controlled and comparable conditions.