Relationships between gastric acid secretion and recurrent duodenal ulcer after selective vagotomy and pyloroplasty in men.

Relations between gastric acid secretion measurements and recurrence of duodenal ulcer within 1 to 4 years after selective vagotomy and pyloroplasty were evaluated in a series of 117 men. The discriminatory ability of spontaneous, histamine- and insulin-activated acid secretion measurements was significant and similar to that after truncal vagotomy and drainage. The measurements were of no practical value for the diagnosis of recurrent duodenal ulcer after vagotomy, but they provided a rationale for selective surgery in patients with duodenal ulcer and patients with recurrent duodenal ulcer after vagotomy.