Effect of truncal vagotomy and pyloroplasty on hepatic bile composition in the rhesus monkey.

Changes in gallbladder motility and alteration of bile composition have been implicated in the formation of gallstones after truncal vagotomy. Hepatic bile composition was found to be unchanged after truncal vagotomy with Heineke-Mikulicz pyloroplasty in our long-term study. . The data suggest that the alleged increase in the incidence of cholelithiasis after vagotomy and pyloroplasty can be isolated from an effect on the liver. These results may have implications for the preferred course of surgical intervention in certain patients.