PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF VAGOTOMY

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Abstract
The revival of interest in vagotomy in the treatment of peptic ulcer dates from 1946, when Dragstedt1 described results in 54 cases in which he had performed vagotomy in the preceding three years. Although he made some modifications in the procedure previously used by Pieri and Tanferna,2 the desired accomplishment was section of all vagus fibers going to the stomach at the level of the lower part of the esophagus in order to reduce gastric acidity and secretion and relieve gastrospasm. It was anticipated that healing of the peptic ulcer would ensue. Previously, surgeons had abandoned vagotomy because of untoward reactions resulting from interference with the motility of the stomach and sometimes of the intestine. These reactions had consisted in varying degrees of dilatation of the stomach, with associated gastric retention. In the immediate postoperative period dehydration and hypochloremic symptoms were associated with the loss of gastric secretion.
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