RESUMEN
Sixty-six sham-feeding tests by the chew-and-spit method, using a standard weight hamburger as a test meal, have been carried out on 38 patients and 12 controls. Twenty-four of these were done before surgery for chronic duodenal ulcer, twenty-three, 3 months after surgery and seven, 1 year after the operation. In addition, a group of twelve persons without gastrointestinal symptoms was tested in a similar fashion as controls. One hundred and three insulin tests were carried out at various intervals after surgery on fifty duodenal ulcer patients. After surgery, a similar reduction in basal acid output (BAO) was observed in both sham-fed and insulin groups. Two of the twelve controls and two patients out of the twenty-four in the pre-op. group had a minimal response to the sham-feeding and another two actually had inhibition of secretion, suggesting that perhaps hamburger was not the best meal of choice for these individuals. Apart from the problems of using a meal of choice for each individual in sham-feeding, this test gives the same information as the insulin test and, because it is safer and more physiological, we would recommend its use (AU)