Home > Encyclopedia of Surgery > Gastrectomy

Definition

Gastrectomy is the surgical removal of all or part of the stomach.

Purpose

Gastrectomy is performed most commonly to treat the following conditions:

• stomach cancer
• bleeding gastric ulcer
• perforation of the stomach wall
• noncancerous polyps

Demographics

Stomach cancer was the most common form of cancer worldwide in the 1970s and early 1980s, and the incidence rates have always shown substantial variation in different countries. Rates are currently highest in Japan and eastern Asia, but other areas of the world have high incidence rates, including Eastern European countries and parts of Latin America. Incidence rates are generally lower in Western Europe and...