J.Jpn. Surg. Soc.. 60(11): 1863-1874, 1960

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IRON METABOLISM OF PATIENTS WITH CANCER OF THE STOMACH AND GASTRODUODENAL ULCERS Report IV. SERUM IRON CONTENT AND IRON ABSORPTION STATE DURING THE REMOTE STAGE AFTER GASTRECTOMY

In 47 cases of gastrectomy performed at the Matsukura Department of Surgery for carcinoma of the stomach and gastroduodenal ulcers, the determination of serum iron content and oral iron tolerance tests have been made after the lapse of a long period (11 years as the longest). The results are summarized as follows:
1) The serum iron level was found, in most cases, to lie within the normal limits after the lapse of a long period, without any abnormal findings subjectively or objectively, in patients with carcinoma of the stomach and gastroduodenal ulcers, who had undergone gastrectomy.
2) The serum iron content is of ten extremely reduced as a remote effect, far below the normal range, in patients who had experienced recurrence of cancer after radical operations for carcinoma of the stomach.
3) Iron absorption is not restored to the normal state even in patients with no subjective or objective abnormalities long after radical operations performed for carcinoma of the stomach. Consequently, adequate postoperative care and supervision are required for patients who apparently recovered from the disease after radical treatment for cancer of the stomach.
4) Iron absorption is remarkably satisfactory, by no means inferior to that of normal individuals, in the remote stage after gastrectomy performed on patients for gastroduodenal ulcers.
5) The difference in the the technique between Billroth I. and II. revealed no particular influence on iron absorption as a remote effect of gastrectomy.
(Author's abstract)

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