Functional characteristics of the pylorus in patients undergoing pylorus--preserving gastrectomy for early gastric cancer

BACKGROUND: This study investigates the functional characteristics of the pylorus in patients undergoing pylorus-preserving gastrectomy (PPG) for early gastric cancer. METHODS: In study 1, postprandial symptoms and gastric emptying were compared between 2 groups of 12 patients with early gastric cancer more than 1 year after either PPG (PPG group) or distal gastrectomy (DG) (DG group). Gastric emptying was evaluated with the dual isotope technique for liquids and solids separately. In study 2, pyloric motility was evaluated with a sleeve/sidehole manometric assembly in 7 patients undergoing PPG, which was compared with that in the preoperative patients. RESULTS: In study 1, the overall modified Visick score of postprandial symptoms and the Sigstad dumping score were significantly lower in the PPG group compared with the DG group (P <.05). Early accelerated gastric emptying was observed in both groups for liquids, but only in the DG group for solids. In study 2, isolated pyloric pressure waves induced by intraduodenal lipid infusion and phase III-like activity induced by intravenous erythromycin infusion were preserved after PPG. CONCLUSIONS: The quantitative analysis of postoperative symptoms revealed that PPG patients were associated with better clinical conditions than DG patients. The clinical benefits of PPG are considered to be based on the function of the preserved pylorus.