Stomaching Acute Brain Injury

Gastrointestinal complications, including hemorrhage, can occur with intracranial lesions and after craniotomy. As early as the 19th century, surgeons were aware that brain tumors could cause gastric ulcers and acute perforations. Investigators used animal experiments both to reproduce these clinical observations and to seek ways to block the effects. Gastrointestinal lesions were seen as a result of the stress of acute brain injury or as a direct consequence of brain surgery. The thinking at the time was markedly influenced by the presumed stress and psychic factors proposed by Cannon. This historical vignette summarizes the major experimental works linking the brain with the stomach.