GASTROSCOPIC AND HISTOLOGIC APPEARANCE OF THE GASTRIC MUCOSA BEFORE AND AFTER VAGOTOMY FOR PEPTIC ULCER

Abstract

THE PURPOSE of this paper is to describe the appearance of the gastric mucosa before and after vagotomy. A total of 125 gastroscopies were performed on 27 patients, 26 of whom had peptic ulcer and 1 of whom had a functional gastrointestinal disturbance; 18 were examined before and after operation and 9 after vagotomy only. The criteria for the diagnosis of gastritis were essentially those formulated by Schindler.¹ The stomach also was examined histologically in 11 patients, in 3 at the time of resection of a gastric ulcer, developing approximately five months to four years after vagotomy, and in 8 at autopsy, performed from one week to two years and three months after operation. Wolff² examined gastroscopically 8 patients with duodenal ulcer and 3 with gastric ulcer, one week to eleven months after vagotomy, and observed a dull and reddened mucosa in 7 and a normal mucosa in