surgical management

Last reviewed 01/2018

Indicated if there is either:

  • failure of medical treatment
  • complications, e.g. recurrent haemorrhage, perforation, outflow obstruction
  • a possibility of malignancy

Different operations that may be performed include:

  • vagotomy
  • partial gastrectomy

Complications:

  • post-parandial hypoglycaemia (late dumping), dizziness and lethargy soon after eating may follow a vagotomy.
  • dizziness and lethargy soon after eating due to the osmotic effect of large volumes of food in the proximal small intestine (early dumping).
  • ulcer relapse - more common after a highly selective vagotomy than a truncal vagotomy.