[Current trends in the therapy of bleeding duodenal ulcer].

A distinction is drawn between two main groups of patients with continuous and massive haemorrhage respectively in bleeding duodenal ulcer, and the criteria upon which this distinction is based are described. The two main types of surgery proposed for the treatment of this complication of duodenal ulcer (vagotomy and gastric resection) are examined. The conclusion is drawn that vagotomy (truncular with drainage, or superselective with or without drainage) is to be preferred to gastric resection in the light of personal experience, and with particular reference to operative mortality and the recurrence of haemorrhage and ulcers.

[Rupture of the pericardium caused by closed thoracic injuries].

Rupture of the pericardium due to closed thoracic trauma is a very rare event which is hard to diagnose. It occurs in the form of two main clinical pictures: 1) severe chest trauma with massive haematoma requiring surgery and which permits diagnosis, and 2) precordial pain and clinical signs of pericardiac origin. Surgery is essential in view of the risk of lethal complications from cardia luxation.

[Spontaneous rupture of the subdiaphragmatic esophagus].

Personal experience with an extremely rare clinical picture, spontaneous rupture of the subdiaphragmatic oesophagus is reported. In the case in question, the laceration occurred in a free peritoneum, unlike what occurred in the first reported case, that of Strauch and Lynch in 1965, where the lesion was retroperitoneal. On the basis of this experience, certain pathogenetic and diagnostic factors are discussed, but most attention is paid to the surgical treatment of this exceptional lesion.

[Suture threads in the pathology of the operated stomach].

Endoscopy following operations on the stomach showed inflammation or ulceration attributable to no-absorbable suture threads in a number of cases. The pathogenetic and clinical features of this picture are described. Complete remission was obtained after endoscopic removal of the foreign body.

[Post-traumatic stenosis of the small intestine].

A case of intestinal stenosis in a subject who had received an abdominal injury four weeks earlier is presented. The relevant literature is surveyed and the pathogenesis of this unusual condition is examined. Post-traumatic stenosis of the small intestine is seen as an example of ischaemic stenosis.