Article Sidebar
Published:
May 16, 2018Article Details
Copyright remains in the Author’s name. The work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution - Noncommercial Works License. Authors are required to complete and sign an Author Agreement form that outlines Author and Publisher rights and terms of publication. The Agreement form should be uploaded along with other submissions files and any submission will be considered incomplete without it [forthcoming].
Material submitted for publication in the SAMJ is accepted provided it has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere. Please inform the editorial team if the main findings of your paper have been presented at a conference and published in abstract form, to avoid copyright infringement. The SAMJ does not hold itself responsible for statements made by the authors.
Previously published images
If an image/figure has been previously published, permission to reproduce or alter it must be obtained by the authors from the original publisher and the figure legend must give full credit to the original source. This credit should be accompanied by a letter indicating that permission to reproduce the image has been granted to the author/s. This letter should be uploaded as a supplementary file during submission.
Main Article Content
The treatment of chronic peptic ulceration
Abstract
Gastric and duodenal ulcers are different entities. The duodenal ulcer is a problem for the physician while the gastric ulcer is a problem for the surgeon.
In duodenal ulcer the object of treatment is reduction of acid output by control or elimination of hypersecretion of gastric juice especially as far as the cephalic phase is concemed. In those cases that have earned surgical treatment gastric vagotomy is, therefore, of fundamental importance, and the best complementary procedure to eliminate the antral phase of gastric secretion is either antral resection or 'physiological antrectomy' by an adequate drainage operation.
In gastric ulcer the fear of carcinoma masquerading as a benign ulcer must still dictate the policy of management in our community. For this reason timely surgical intervention is recommended. Indeed, medical treatment without a thorough work-up to exclude malignancy is condemned as unscientific - I would go further and say, unethical. The main purpose of therapy is protection or removal of the sick gastric mucosa and the surgical treatment of choice remains distal gastrectomy which includes the ulcer.
