Complications of gastrectomy

It is important to elicit a history of gastrectomy since it may explain subsequent complications such as:

• rapid feeling of fullness - very common but tends to improve over the first few months
• bilious vomiting - varies in severity and persistence
• anaemia - iron deficiency or vitamin B12 deficiency
• dumping
• bolus obstruction of the gastric outlet stoma
• diarrhoea or steatorrhoea
• 'blind loop syndrome' - a complication of a Polya gastrectomy due to bacterial overgrowth in the blind ended loop
• weight loss - due to malabsorption and the above factors
• osteomalacia - due to calcium and vitamin D malabsorption
• ulceration - recurrent ulceration of the gastric remnant or stomal origin - in about 1% of cases
• increased risk of subsequent gastric malignancy