QUESTION OF THE RETURN OF GASTRIC SECRETION AFTER COMPLETE VAGOTOMY

Abstract

THE QUESTION of regeneration of the vagus nerves and return of gastric secretion after complete vagotomy has become of great clinical as well as scientific interest because of the widespread use of section of the vagus nerves as a method of treatment of various types of peptic ulcer in man. It seems highly probable that the beneficial effects of this operation are largely due to the marked reduction in the secretion of gastric juice both in the fasting stomach and as a result of the stimulation of food. Perhaps to a lesser extent some of the beneficial effects of vagotomy may be ascribed to a decrease in the hypertonicity and hypermotility of the stomach so frequently found in patients with duodenal ulcers. Accordingly, if vagotomy is to be of long-continued or permanent value in the treatment of peptic ulcer, the effects on secretion and motility ought to be long continued