title: Vagotomy/drainage is superior to local oversew in patients who require emergency surgery for bleeding peptic ulcers.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare early postoperative outcomes of patients undergoing different types of emergency procedures for bleeding or perforated gastroduodenal ulcers.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Although definitive acid-reducing procedures are being used less frequently during emergency ulcer surgery, there is little published data to support this change in practice.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective analysis of data for patients from the 2005-2011 American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database who underwent emergency operation for bleeding or perforated peptic ulcer disease was performed to determine the association between surgical approach (local procedure alone, vagotomy/drainage, or vagotomy/gastric resection) and 30-day postoperative outcomes. Multivariable regression analysis was used to adjust for a number of patient-related factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 3611 patients undergoing emergency ulcer surgery (775 for bleeding, 2374 for perforation) were included for data analysis. Compared with patients undergoing local procedures alone, vagotomy/gastric resection was associated with significantly greater postoperative morbidity when performed for either ulcer perforation or bleeding. For patients with perforated ulcers, vagotomy/drainage produced similar outcomes as local procedures but required a significantly greater length of postoperative hospitalization. Conversely, vagotomy/drainage was associated with a significantly lower postoperative mortality rate than local ulcer oversew when performed for bleeding ulcers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Simple repair is the procedure of choice for patients requiring emergency surgery for perforated peptic ulcer disease. For patients requiring emergency operation for intractable ulcer bleeding, vagotomy/drainage is associated with lower postoperative mortality than with simple ulcer oversew.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC †Department of Surgery, University of Central Florida, Orlando.
authors.forename: Vanessa T
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Schroder
authors.forename: Theodore N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Pappas
authors.forename: Steven N
authors.initials: SN
authors.lastname: Vaslef
authors.forename: Sebastian G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: De La Fuente
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Scarborough
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D004322:Drainage / Q000379:methods*; D004381:Duodenal Ulcer / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000379:methods; D017052:Hospital Mortality / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000639:trends; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010438:Peptic Ulcer Hemorrhage / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D010439:Peptic Ulcer Perforation / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery; D011184:Postoperative Period; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013276:Stomach Ulcer / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D015996:Survival Rate / Q000639:trends; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D014628:Vagotomy / Q000379:methods*