A prospective randomized study of the elective surgical treatment for duodenal ulcer: Two- to ten-year follow-up study

A prospective randomized study was carried out on 267 patients undergoing surgery for duodenal ulcer. Patients were randomly assigned to one of three operative procedures: vagotomy and pyloroplasty, vagotomy and hemigastrectomy, or subtotal (75 percent) gastrectomy. Of these, 201 patients were followed two years or more. There was no significant difference among the three groups with respect to postoperative complications, postoperative mortality or recurrence rates. There was a significantly lower incidence of dumping syndrome in those patients who had vagotomy and pyloroplasty compared to those whose operation involved partial gastrectomy. There was no significant difference in the incidence of diarrhea or other symptoms.