Selection of Patients for Bile Diversion Surgery: Use of Bile Acid Measurement in Fasting Gastric Aspirates

Eighteen patients with dyspepsia and vomiting which followed surgery for peptic ulcer have completed a study to examine the role of diverting bile from the stomach by a Roux-en-Y procedure. Bile regurgitation and mild epigastric pain relieved by vomiting were abolished. Measurements of bile acids in the fasting gastric aspirate were useful in predicting the outcome of surgery; good results were obtained when initially there was reflex into the stomach of more than 120 mumol/hour of bile acids. A wider group of patients than those selected in previous series may benefit from this operation, as good results can be obtained in patients with dyspepsia relieved by alkali and without achlorhydria or gastritis. Endoscopy was repeated one year after Roux-en-Y operation. Erythema of the mucosa was improved, but gastritis did not improve.