Simple suture with or without proximal gastric vagotomy for perforated duodenal ulcer.

To assess the results of proximal gastric vagotomy (PGV) in the definitive treatment of perforated duodenal ulcers, a prospective study was carried out comparing PGV in association with omental patch suture (PGV + S) with the simple omental patch suture procedure (S). The PGV + S series consisted of 38 consecutive patients with perforated duodenal ulcer and the S series consisted of 38 survivors of a similar series of 41 consecutive patients. Surgical mortality was zero in the PGV + S series.

Contribution of intraoperative biliary manometry for the diagnosis of bile duct stones.

Sixty patients with cholecystitis and gallstones, with and without biliary duct calculi, were submitted to intraoperative biliary manometry and cholangiography. The patients were subdivided into two groups of 30: Group A, without biliary duct calculi, and Group B, with biliary duct calculi. The pathology had been diagnosed before surgery for 24 patients in group B (B1), and for 6 (B2), diagnosis was made on the basis of intraoperative manometry which showed higher pressure values than those encountered in the main bile ducts of patients without calculi, and of intraoperative cholangiography.