THE PURPOSES of this presentation are to discuss certain unusual aspects of benign gastric ulcers and to examine the surgical approach to these lesions. The ulcers under consideration are huge, measuring over 6 cm. in at least one diameter, and they have been proved benign by histologic study. Also, they are penetrating in that the entire thickness of the gastric wall over a large area has been destroyed—the defect being filled by some adjacent organ.
REPORT OF CASES
Case 1.
—C. D., a white man, aged 55, had had symptoms of nagging pains in the epigastrium for seven months, with no anorexia, weight loss, nausea, or vomiting. Three months prior to admission he had nausea, vomiting, fullness in the stomach, anorexia, weight loss, but no blood in either vomitus or stool. During two months prior to admission he began to notice weakness and a weight loss which totaled 25 lb. (11.3 kg.)