Treatment of devastating postgastrectomy symptoms: the potential role of jejunal pouch reconstruction.

After gastrectomy a few patients develop severe symptoms and malnutrition. There are probably several reasons for this, such as insufficient gastric reservoir function, malassimilation, diarrhea and dumping. The patient presented here developed severe malnutrition after partial gastrectomy and his weight gradually decreased from 95 to 40 kg during the first 6 postoperative years. His major complaint was postprandial vomiting and early satiety. During the course of his illness, he was repeatedly investigated with computerized tomography scans, repeated endoscopies with biopsies, barium examinations, etc. Finally the only positive finding was bacterial intestinal overgrowth, but antibiotic treatment did not improve his condition. After repeated periods of parenteral nutrition or enteral tube feeding, an S-shaped jejunal pouch was attached to the gastric remnant. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to examine the body composition and bone density in the immediate postoperative period and 1 year after the operation. During the first postoperative year he gained 11 kg weight and reported an essentially normal food intake. Both laboratory and clinical parameters improved and a gain in lean body mass was recorded. Patients with severe postgastrectomy symptoms, with no other plausible explanation than nonexistent or insufficient gastric reservoir function, may benefit from re-reconstruction with a jejunal pouch. Copyright 2001 S. Karger AG, Basel