Reflections on surgical treatment of duodenal ulcer.

MEDICAL literature of today includes many fine reports of objective observations in varied experimental studies or detailed data concerning some facet of clinical investigation of the surgical patient. Such reports are essential as they offer the reader evidence of one type or another on which to base conclusions regarding the particular study in question. On the other hand, they may fail to express the broad views of the author regarding the particular problem under study. For example, many excellent contributions to the surgical literature on duodenal ulcer deal with detailed studies of gastric acidity, gastric motility, incidence of recurrent ulcers, results of a certain type of operation, and other related conditions, but they may not express the more general thinking of the author in the surgical management of patients who have duodenal ulcer. Consequently, it seemed that it might be appropriate to present a few general remarks without benefit of