Retained antrum syndrome

Retained gastric antrum syndrome refers to the condition in which, during Billroth II surgery, the gastric antrum is incompletely resected, and the mucosa of the retained antrum is stimulated by refluxing alkaline duodenal fluid, producing large amounts of gastrin. The gastrin is absorbed into the blood and acts on the gastric fundic mucosa, stimulating the parietal cells of the residual stomach, causing excessive gastric secretion and hyperacidity, resulting in a syndrome of postoperative anastomotic ulcer. The incidence of recurrent ulcer in the retained gastric antrum is 40%. The typical feature of this condition is excessive gastric acid secretion, leading to anastomotic ulcer, which in turn causes a series of symptoms such as long-term, periodic, hunger-related upper abdominal pain, upper abdominal burning sensation, and acid regurgitation.