The prevention of peptic ulceration by highly selective vagotomy in a new peptic ulcer experimental model: the bile duct-ligated pig.

Bile duct ligation produced gross peptic ulceration of the pars esophagea of the stomach, with a 70% mortality rate from hemorrhage or perforation. The situation and histological appearance of the ulcers was identical to the peptic ulcers that occur spontaneously in pigs. Previous work has shown that these ulcers are associated with gastric hypersecretion. The technique of highly selective vagotomy was established in the pig and was shown to have no short-term adverse effects. In a group of 10 pigs, highly selective vagotomy virtually eliminated pars esophageal peptic ulceration and significantly prolonged survival after bile duct ligation. The bile duct-ligated pig experimental peptic ulcer model should be of value in studying peptic ulceration and methods of treatment. Further investigation is required to determine the cause of death in those animals in which peptic ulceration is prevented by treatment, such as highly selective vagotomy.