Duodeno-Gastric Reflux and Acid Secretion in Patients with Symptomatic Hiatal Hernia

Abstract

Stol, D. W., Murphy, G. M. & Collis, J. Leigh. Duodeno-gastric reflux and acid secretion in patients with symptomatic hiatal hernia. Scand. J. Gastroent. 1974, 9, 97–101. Duodeno-gastric reflux has been studied by measurement of bile acid concentrations in the fasting gastric juice of 32 symptomatic hiatal hernia patients and 13 controls. The acid secretion was studied before and after pentagastrin stimulation. The concentration of total bile acids in the stomach was increased in hiatal hernia patients, indicating the presence of duodeno-gastric reflux. Elevation of the basal acid output was pronounced in the hiatal hernia group, while a slight increase in peak acid output was also detected. The degree of the pathological response in the oesophagus appears to be correlated with an increased total bile acid concentration and with an increased basal acid output. A preliminary examination of the individual bile acid fractions present in solution in the gastric juice suggests that samples from patients with stricture formation contain a smaller proportion of glycine conjugates than those from control subjects.