Causes
By Mayo Clinic staffIn dumping syndrome, food and gastric juices from your stomach move to your small intestine in an uncontrolled, abnormally fast manner. This is most often related to changes in your stomach associated with surgery, such as when the opening (pylorus) between your stomach and the small intestine (duodenum) has been removed during an operation.
The pylorus acts as a brake so that stomach emptying is gradual. When it's removed, stomach material dumps rapidly into the small intestine. The ill effects of this are thought to be caused by the release of gastrointestinal hormones in the small intestine, as well as insulin secreted to process the sugar (glucose).
Dumping syndrome can occur after any operation on the stomach as well as after removal of the esophagus (esophagectomy). Gastric bypass surgery for weight loss is the most common cause today. It develops most commonly within weeks after surgery, or as soon as you return to your normal diet. The more stomach removed or bypassed, the more likely that the condition will be severe. It sometimes becomes a chronic disorder.
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- Tack J, et al. Pathophysiology, diagnosis and management of postoperative dumping syndrome. Nature Reviews Gastroenterology and Hepatology. 2009;6:583.
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- Collazo-Clavell ML (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. May 1, 2012.
- Picco MF (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla. May 8, 2012.


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