The effect of a parietal cell vagotomy and truncal vagotomy with and without drainage on duodenal ulcers in the rat.

The gastric secretagogues, pentagastrin and carbachol, produced a 100% incidence of duodenal ulcers. Truncal vagotomy (TV) and parietal cell vagotomy (PCV) prevented these experimental ulcers in the early post-operative period. At 3 weeks TV rats showed a decrease in weight gain, gross gastric distension and the infusion of gastric secretagogues now caused hypersecretory-induced gastric ulcers. TV and gastroenterostomy rats developed stomal ulceration and PCV failed to prevent formation of duodenal ulcers at 3 weeks. These results indicate that vagotomy, irrespective if truncal or highly selective, only has a temporary effect. This may be due to ischaemia or an altered sensitivity of the parietal cell mass with a post-operative recovery.