Laparoscopic Single Figure of Eight Suturing Omentopexy for the Treatment of a Perforated Duodenal Ulcer

PURPOSE: Safe and effective surgical treatment of peptic ulcer perforations is fundamental to achieve favorable outcomes. We present laparoscopic single figure of eight suturing omentopexy for perforated duodenal ulcer and review associated clinical outcomes. This is a new formulaic surgical technique for laparoscopic omentopexy. METHODS: Laparoscopic single figure of eight suturing omentopexies for perforated duodenal ulcer were completed in 15 consecutive patients between April 2008 and November 2017 at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. Using prospectively collected data, we performed an observational study on an intention-to-treat basis. RESULTS: The mean age of the 15 patients who underwent laparoscopic repair was 41.7±13.9 years. The perforation site was the anterior duodenal bulb in all patients. The median perforation size was 5 mm (range: 3~8 mm). The mean operation time was 66.7±19.6 minutes. There was no evidence of leakage from the omentopexy site clinically or in the postoperative upper gastrointestinal series. One patient (6.7%) experienced the postoperative complication of pneumothorax. There were no cases of postoperative mortality or reoperation within 30 days after surgery. The median time to tolerance of regular diet was 6 (range: 4~9) days. The median postoperative hospital stay was 7 days (range: 5~11 days). CONCLUSION: Laparoscopic single figure of eight suturing omentopexy can be a viable option in the surgical management of perforated duodenal ulcer in selected patients without surgical risk factors. Laparoscopic single figure of eight suturing omentopexy is safe and easy to perform, and may therefore reduce operation time.