The evolution of surgical procedures in the management of duodenal and gastric ulcers.

Surgical procedures for the surgical management of duodenal ulcer had evolved through many stages, over the years. It started with gastroenterostomy alone, then followed by subtotal gastrectomy, vagotomy alone, vagotomy and gastro-jejunostomy, vagotomy and pyloroplasty, and highly selective vagotomy - all which started as open surgical procedures. Now unless there are complications the treatment is essentially medical following the work of Marshall and Warren. Currently, even when surgery is indicated, minimal invasive procedures are preferred. Four main types of pyloroplasties are well known. They are Weinberg, Heinecke-Mikulicz, Finney and Jaboulay. Vagotomy can be truncal, selective, and highly selective. Accepted surgical treatment for gastric ulcer is the distal gastric resection to include the ulcerated area, but not resecting more than 50-60% of the stomach. In the uncommon cases of Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, aggressive gastric surgery, the use of drugs, and the resection of the tumour have all been recommended in appropriate cases. With the discovery of Helicobacter pylori and its effective medical treatment, surgery has little role in the initial management of peptic ulcer disease. The place of the history of the surgical procedures employed earlier in the treatment of this disease would remain relevant.