Effect of vagotomy on exocrine pancreatic and biliary secretion in man

The exocrine pancreatic and biliary secretion in response to vagal stimulation by insulin hypoglycemia was measured in preoperative patients with duodenal ulcer and in patients who underwent highly selective vagotomy, bilateral selective vagotomy with pyloroplasty, and truncal vagotomy with pyloroplasty. Significant stimulation of both biliary and pancreatic secretion occurred only in patients with an intact vagal nerve supply. No evidence of increased lithogenicity of human bile was found up to 2 years after truncal vagotomy.