Proximal Gastric Vagotomy

Simple closure, the conventional operation for perforated acute duodenal ulcers, is associated with symptomatic relapse in a large proportion of patients. In order to assess the role of immediate definitive surgery, 78 fit patients with perforated acute ulcers were prospectively randomized to undergo either closure alone or proximal gastric vagotomy with closure (PGV). Patients taking potentially ulcerogenic drugs or who had severe stress were...