Recurrent ulceration after vagotomy and drainage with electrical stimulation test, 1957-69

Between 1957 and 1969 700 patients with duodenal ulceration were treated by selective vagotomy and simple drainage using the electrical stimulation test to achieve complete nerve section. Ten of these patients have been re-admitted to the hospital with further ulceration, one with a lesser curve gastric ulcer and nine with recurrent duodenal disease. The first patient had gastric retention and has apparently been cured by gastrojejunostomy to improve antral drainage. The remaining nine cases were found to have incomplete nerve section, and, of these, seven have been treated and apparently cured by completion of the incomplete vagotomy, again using the electrical stimulation test.