Comparative study of the early postoperative course and complications in patients undergoing Billroth I and Billroth II gastrectomy.

Distal gastric resection can be followed by reconstruction according to the Billroth I (BI) or Billroth II (BII) techniques. The aim of this study was to compare the early postoperative results and complications of patients undergoing BI and those undergoing BII resection. Eighty-eight patients operated during the years 1991 to 1994 underwent distal gastric resection (41 had BI, and 43 had BII resections). The indications for BI resections were gastric tumors in 39 patients (95%) and duodenal ulcer in 2 (5%). The indications for BII resection were malignancy in 28 patients (65%) and duodenal ulcer disease in 15 (35%). The average duration of the procedure was 147 +/- 28 minutes for the BI resection and 175 +/- 38 minutes for the BII resection (p < 0.05). No patient in the BI group developed anastomic leakage. Two patients who underwent BII resection developed duodenal stump leakage (4.7%). Relaparotomy was indicated in five patients, two from the BI group (malignant cells in the resection margins) and three from the BII group (one due to duodenal stump leakage and two for bleeding). There was no postoperative mortality in the BI group. The postoperative mortality in the BII group was 7.1% (p < 0.05). The average proximal gastric resection margins were significantly smaller in the BI group than in the BII group (3.65 +/- 2.83 cm and 5.18 +/- 2.57 cm, respectively; p < 0. 05). The number of lymph nodes found in the resected specimen did not differ significantly between the two groups. Recurrent tumor at the gastric remnant developed in two patients in the BI group but not in the BII group. The results of our study revealed that the BI procedure is accompanied by significantly lower postoperative complication and mortality rates than the BII procedure in cases of gastric malignancy. BI resection performed for malignancy seems to achieve smaller proximal gastric resection margins, which may influence the recurrence rate.