The Discriminatory Ability of Gastric Acid Secretion Tests in the Diagnosis of Recurrence after Truncal Vagotomy and Drainage for Duodenal Ulcer

Abstract

Kronborg, O. The discriminatory ability of gastric acid secretion tests in the diagnosis of recurrence after truncal vagotomy and drainage for duodenal ulcer. Scand. J. Gastroent. 1973, 8, 483-489.

The value of insulin and augmented histamine tests in predicting recurrence after vagotomy and drainage for duodenal ulcer was assessed in a series of 500 consecutively operated patients. Different criteria of recurrence were established by a discriminative analysis of gastric acid secretion parameters. Recurrence was predicted with a probability of about 50 per cent in patients with dyspepsia, the proportion between recurrences and dyspeptic non-recurrences being 1 : 3. The discriminatory ability of the insulin test was not better than that of the pre- and post-operative histamine test; also the time of performing the post-operative insulin test was of minor importance for the prediction of recurrence.

Key-words::

• Gastric acid
• histamine test
• insulin test
• recurrence
• vagotomy