Insulin- and histamine-stimulated secretion in relation to recurrence of duodenal ulceration after vagotomy

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Abstract
Gastric secretion after vagotomy for duodenal ulcer in response to a single injection of insulin and in response to a histamine infusion has been compared in 25 patients with and 56 patients without recurrent duodenal ulceration proven by endoscopy. The lower 95 per cent tolerance limits of the pre-operative ranges of secretion to either insulin or histamine stimulation measured in 81 unoperated patients provided thresholds that separated postvagotomy patients with recurrent ulceration and those without. Neither the ratios, nor the regression line, between secretion in response to each secretagogue provided similar discrimination. In a group of 43 patients who had gastric secretion studies before and after vagotomy the reductions in secretion to below the established 95 per cent tolerance limits of secretion were respectively 60 and 80 per cent of their pre-operative insulin- and histamine-stimulated secretion. The percentage reductions however failed to differentiate asymptomatic patients from patients with recurrent ulceration. It appears therefore that, irrespective of the pre-operative level or of the magnitude of the reduction of secretion, a vagotomy to be adequate must achieve a reduction of secretion to below a threshold level.