Antral denervation of parietal cell vagotomized dogs. Effect upon gastric emptying and motility, Heidenhain pouch acid secretion and serum gastrin concentration.

In ten Heidenhain pouch (HP) dogs who previously had undergone parietal cell vagotomy (PCV) with gastroduodenostomy, the antral nerves were cut, and the PCV thus converted to a selective gastric vagotomy (SGV). Mean gastric emptying rate was unaffected but antral motility changed considerably, the stomach became big and slack, and the emptying of a food-barium meal became purely passive. While the duodenal bulb was often filled with gastric content before antral denervation, this happened very seldom afterwards. Fasting, food-stimulated and 24-hour HP acid secretion increased significantly after denervation, but this was not accompanied by any significant changes in serum gastrin concentration. This indicates that other factors than gastrin must be responsible for the increased HP acid response to a meal after antral denervation.