Observations on Surgical Treatment of Benign Gastroduodenal Ulcers

Abstract

Use of the general heading “peptic ulcers” to include both duodenal and gastric lesions is misleading and confusing. The mechanisms of production are different, as are the methods of treatment and the results to be expected. Duodenal ulcers are primarily a medical problem. Surgical intervention should be considered only when medical therapy fails, as evidenced by pyloric obstruction, perforation, hemorrhage or intractability. It seems equally clear that ulcerating lesions of the stomach are, from the time of diagnosis, a surgical problem. Gastric ulcers respond poorly to medical therapy, the possibility of malignancy is ever present, and the results of proper surgical therapy are almost always gratifying.