Operations for peptic ulcer disease: paradigm lost.

Over the past several decades, the pharmacologic and endoscopic treatment of peptic ulcer disease (PUD) has dramatically improved. To determine the effects of these and other changes on the operative management of PUD, we reviewed our surgical experience with gastroduodenal ulcers over the past 20 years. A computerized surgical database was used to analyze the frequencies of all operations for PUD performed in two training hospitals during four consecutive 5-year intervals beginning in 1980. Operative rates for both intractable and complicated PUD were compared with those for other general surgical procedures and operations for gastric malignancy. In the first 5-year period (1980 to 1984), a yearly average of 70 upper gastrointestinal operations were performed. This experience included 36 operations for intractability, 15 for hemorrhage, 12 for perforation, and seven for obstruction. During the same time span, 13 resections were performed annually for gastric malignancy. By the most recent 5-year interval (1994 to 1999), the total number of upper gastrointestinal operations had declined by 80% (14 cases), although the number of operations for gastric cancer had changed only slightly. Operations decreased most markedly for patients with intractability, but the prevalence of operations for bleeding, obstruction, and perforation was also decreased. We conclude that improved pharmacologic and endoscopic approaches have progressively curtailed the use of operative therapy for PUD. Elective surgery is now rarely indicated, and emergency operations are much less common. This changed paradigm poses new challenges for training and suggests different approaches for practice.

Soluble dietary fiber protects against cholesterol gallstone formation.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological studies have suggested that soluble dietary fibers are hypocholesterolemic and may inhibit cholelithiasis. METHODS: Thirty prairie dogs were placed on a cholesterol-supplemented lithogenic diet. Ten animals received 5% psyllium (PSY) and 10 animals received 5% cellulose. After 6 weeks all gallbladders were inspected for stones; blood and bile were collected for analysis. RESULTS: Cholesterol stones were present in 8 of 10 of the control animals, in 6 of 10 of the cellulose group, and 3 of 10 of the PSY animals (P <0.05). Concentrations of cholesterol and chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) were significantly lower in the PSY group compared with controls (0.49 versus 0.88 mM and 4.2 versus 9.2 mM, respectively) leading to a significant reduction in the cholesterol saturation index (0.62 versus 1.2). CONCLUSIONS: A dietary soluble fiber (PSY) inhibits cholesterol stone formation by reducing the biliary cholesterol saturation index. This protective effect is associated with a selective decrease in biliary cholesterol and CDCA.

Effect of dietary ethanol on gallbladder absorption and cholesterol gallstone formation in the prairie dog.

Dietary ethanol has been reported to protect against cholesterol gallstone formation. Because enhanced gallbladder absorption of water is important in cholesterol cholelithiasis, we examined the hypothesis that ethanol acts by inhibiting the absorptive function of the gallbladder. Eighteen adult male prairie dogs were fed a lithogenic liquid diet containing 0.4% cholesterol. Half of the animals received 30% of total calories as ethanol, whereas their pair-fed controls received equicaloric amounts of maltose-dextrin. After 3 months, the gallbladders were inspected for gallstones and crystals, and gallbladder and hepatic bile were analyzed. Cholesterol stones and crystals were present in all nine controls. None of the alcohol-fed animals had stones, but four had cholesterol crystals. Gallbladder cholesterol, phospholipids, and total calcium were significantly decreased in alcohol-fed animals. In both gallbladder and hepatic bile, the cholesterol saturation index was significantly lower in alcohol-fed animals, as was the ratio of trihydroxy to dihydroxy bile salts. The ethanol-supplemented diet produced a significant decrease in the absorption of water by the gallbladder as indicated by changes in the gallbladder bile to hepatic bile ratios of the total bile salt concentration (7.29 +/- 1.25 versus 3.84 +/- 0.56; p less than 0.05) and the total calcium (3.37 +/- 0.24 versus 2.43 +/- 0.29; p less than 0.05). These findings indicate that the protective effect of ethanol may be related to its ability both to inhibit gallbladder absorption of water and to alter the composition of biliary lipids.

Alcohol protects against cholesterol gallstone formation.

Epidemiologic studies have suggested that alcohol intake may protect against cholelithiasis. Gallstone formation was studied in 20 prairie dogs fed a 0.4% cholesterol-supplemented liquid diet. In ten animals, ethanol provided 35% of total calories. In ten pair-fed controls, ethanol was replaced with isocaloric maltose. After 3 months the gallbladders were inspected for gallstones, and gallbladder bile was analyzed. Cholesterol macroaggregates were present in all controls and pigment concretions were noted in five. No stones were observed in ethanol-fed animals. Bile in the ethanol group contained less cholesterol than the controls (5.60 +/- 0.71 vs. 9.16 +/- 0.61 mmol/L, p less than 0.05) while phospholipids, total bile acids, and bilirubin were unchanged. The resulting cholesterol saturation index was reduced in the ethanol group (0.81 vs. 1.22, p less than 0.05). The ratios of trihydroxy to dihydroxy bile acids were also different (2.07 +/- 0.25 in ETOH vs. 3.29 in controls, p less than 0.05). The bile calcium concentration was higher in control animals presumably secondary to the use of complex sugars (5.36 +/- 0.37 vs. 3.77 +/- 0.32 mmol/L, p less than 0.05). These results confirm that ethanol inhibits cholesterol gallstone formation. They further suggest that this effect is dependent on reductions of biliary cholesterol and selective changes in bile acid concentrations.

Intestinal endometriosis.

Endometriosis involving the intestine usually takes the form of asymptomatic, small, superficial serosal implants on segments of bowel lying in the pelvis in proximity to the genital organs. Deeper and more extensive intestinal wall involvement may result in obstruction and occasionally bleeding and requires distinction from a neoplasm or other inflammatory bowel process. Intestinal endometriosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis of recurring lower abdominal pain and other episodic bowel symptoms in women of child-bearing age. The diagnosis may be suspected based on the patient's history and frequently associated gynecologic symptoms. Due to the extramucosal location of the endometrioma, preoperative evaluation is unlikely to establish the diagnosis with certainty. Intestinal involvement by endometriosis, to the degree that it produces symptoms, almost always requires excision. Asymptomatic serosal lesions found incidentally at celiotomy for other disease should be biopsied and the diagnosis confirmed by frozen section. Symptomatic disease should be treated by resection of the involved intestine or by local excision, if the latter is feasible, and primary colon carcinoma can be excluded with confidence. Decisions regarding concurrent treatment for the underlying endometriosis should be made after consultation with an experienced gynecologist and must be based on the patient's menstrual status, age, and desire for future pregnancy.

Therapeutic options for synchronous malignancies of the colon.

We have reported the recent case of a patient with three synchronous colonic malignancies. A review of the literature suggests that multiple lesions of the colon, particularly ones that are benign, are not uncommon. The clinician should be aware of this association and be prepared to evaluate and manage appropriately patients with multiple colonic lesions.

Diagnosis of an enteric duplication with pertechnetate 99mTc scanning.

A case of enteric duplication is reported in which preoperative pertechnetate (99m)Tc scanning demonstrated localized uptake in the region of the anatomic abnormality. This test is recommended for use in the evaluation of lower gastrointestinal bleeding in infants and children.