Objective To discuss the pathogenesis,clinical manifestations,diagnoses and preventive methods on subsequent Wernicke encephalopathy cases of old gastric cancer patients during perioperation.Methods Collected the data of 237 old gastric cancer patients in perioperation from October 1990 to December 2009 hospitalized in the Department of General Surgery,Lanzhou General Hospital Attached to Military Region,PLA.And then retrospectively analysed 7 patents of them who complicated with Wernicke encephalopathy to summarize the clinical manifestation, accessory examination,diagnosis,prevention, and therapy of the Wernicke encephalopathy,and associated factors with its incidence.Results The clinical manifestations of 7 patients included nystagmus （7 cases）,ataxia（4 cases）,brain disorder（6 cases）.Auxiliary examination：4 cases with anemia,7 cases with unusual blood biochemical examination, 5 cases with urinary ketone bodies positive,2 cases with decreasing blood vitamin B1,1 case with unusual skull MRI examination.Five patients were diagnosed before treatment and 2 case were diagnosed by experimental treatment.Finally，4 patents were cured,1 case obviously improved,1 case improved, and 1 case died.And The patients complicated with preoperative hypoproteinemia or pyloric obstruction and postoperative fistula of intestine or gastroplegia syndrome had statistical higher incidence rates of the Wernicke encephalopathy than those without these complications （P＜0.05）.Conclusions The clinical manifestation of the Wernicke encephalopathy have no specificity, it is hard to diagnose,so clinicians should pay attention to it，and combine different ways to diagnose.Improving or preventing complications during perioperative period,and supplementing enough vitamin B are important preventive and therapeutic measures.
ObjectiveTo explore the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of superior mesenteric artery syndrome (SMAS) complicated with Wernicke encephalopathy (WE). MethodsThe clinical data of 11 cases of SMAS patients complicated with WE were retrospectively analyzed. ResultsOf 9 SMAS patients complicated with WE, 8 patients were gradually awake and the time of consciousness recovery was from 7 d to 9 weeks (mean 5.2 weeks). Another 1 patient died of multiple organ failure attributed to severe condition. The symptoms of ophthalmopegia and ataxia in the rest 2 patients improved. All of symptoms such as ataxia, nystagmus, tinnitus, nausea, and sweating gradually disappeared. The nystagmus disappeared from 3 h to 4 d (mean 2.3 d) in five patients and the ataxia disappeared from 3 d to 12 weeks (mean 7.0 weeks) in 4 patients. The tinnitus, nausea, and sweating in 6 patients disappeared within 1 week. ConclusionImproving the understanding of SMAS complicated with WE is important during clinical practice and early diagnosis and intervention is the key point for a good prognosis.