Reconstruction of duodenal wall defects with the use of a gastric "island" flap.

Many surgical techniques have been proposed for the repair of duodenal wall defects; however, none of these has gained popularity among surgeons. This is a report of our experimentation with the construction of a gastric wall "island" flap, which consists of a segment of greater curvature supplied by the gastroepiploic vessels. In the dog model, the flap allowed patching of large duodenal wall defects without any postoperative complications.