Materials and Methods All patients undergoing surgical treatment for acute spontaneous perforation of lesions of the stomach and duodenum at the Veterans Administration Hospital for the years 1949–1964, at the Jefferson Davis Hospital from 1949-May 1963, and the Ben Taub General Hospital from May 1963-June 1973 were studied. A total of 853 operations were performed. Seven-hundred-and-fiftyfive patients were treated for perforated duodenal ulcers, 84 patients were treated for perforated gastric ulcer, ten patients had perforation of marginal ulcers, and there were four perforations in patients with gastric cancer. All patients were treated by the administration of antibiotics, intravenous fluids, and blood transfusions when indicated. Patients, who for various reasons were