Gastric surgery for duodenal ulcer began in 1884 when Rydygier, a Polish surgeon, performed a gastroenterostomy for benign obstruction of the stomach. Thereafter, other surgeons in Britain, Europe, and America followed suit, and thus began the surgical treatment of duodenal ulcer.
Moynihan in England and W. J. Mayo in this country deserve great credit for making clear the indications for gastroenterostomy and developing the technique of the operation. It was often combined with excision of the ulcer and pyloroplasty, or excision and pyloroplasty only were used.
Thus, it came about that during the first quarter of this century, the operation of gastroenterostomy became the most frequently performed gastric operation for duodenal ulcer. In the 1920's, Lorenz and Van Haberer in Europe were among the first to recognize that gastroenterostomy did not prevent hemorrhage and to realize also that ulcer symptoms frequently persisted or recurred, and all too frequently marginal ulcer