Gastric emptying after pylorus-preserving gastrectomy in comparison with conventional subtotal gastrectomy for early gastric carcinoma.

It is well known that surgical intervention on the stomach will greatly alter gastric function and gastric emptying. In this study, we evaluated the difference in postoperative gastric remnant emptying following pylorus-preserving gastrectomy (PPG) and conventional subtotal gastrectomy (CDG) using sulfamethizole capsule food. The subjects comprised 18 patients who underwent PPG and 23 who underwent CDG for early gastric carcinoma. While delayed gastric emptying was observed early after PPG, 1 year after PPG it was markedly accelerated compared with that measured in the early postoperative period. However, it was slower than that in the CDG patients. On the other hand, rapid gastric emptying was observed early after CDG and did not change with time. These findings stress that although PPG results in stasis in the early postoperative period, it seems to prevent unduly rapid emptying.