[Anatomical bases of incomplete vagotomy]

The results are presented, of an intraoperative anatomical study concerning the variable disposition of the vagal nerves in the abdominal section of the oesophagus. This study was carried out in a large number of patients with ulcers in which vagotomy was performed. All the patients were followed and in all periodical controls were made after surgery in view of detecting possible ulcerative relapses. The authors conclude that the negative results of vagotomy are due to the fact that this is usually incomplete. The study demonstrated the existence of many variants of the anatomical disposition of the vagal nerves at the level of the abdominal oesophagus, which the authors synthesize in a practical scheme which is available to any surgeon. The risk of an incomplete vagotomy is the highest when the patient presents an anatomical variant with a large number of branches.