Transgastric vagotomy with selective proximal vagotomy for duodenal ulcer

To improve surgical results of duodenal ulcer, transgastric myotomy (TGM) was added to the traditional selective proximal vagotomy (SPV) and its efficacy was evaluated clinically in 40 patients. 35 men and 5 women were involved, with a mean age of 33.07 +/- 14.25 years. Pyloroplasty was added in 12 operations for stenosis and perforation. 28 patients in this series underwent TGM with SPV without drainage. In the 36 patients, basal and maximal acid output (BAO and MAO) was compared preoperatively and at 6 months postoperatively. A satisfactory reduction of acid output was achieved, with a mean reduction rate of 71.4% in BAO and of 79.9% in MAO. All 40 patients were negative in Hollander's insulin stimulation test at 6 months postoperatively. The gastric mucosa was injured during myotomy in 2 of the patients (5.0%), and was simply sutured using 3-0 Dexon, without causing any problems. No other early or late postoperative complication was present. In addition, no peptic ulcer recurrence has been noted over a maximal follow-up of 8 years. The present results suggest the completeness of gastric denervation by TGM+SPV, and establish the efficacy of TGM with SPV, and therefore this method is recommended in the surgical treatment of duodenal ulcer.