[Therapy of severe dysphagia following proximal gastric vagotomy]

Severe dysphagia is a rare complication of proximal gastric vagotomy. Two of our patients developed severe dysphagia up to complete obstruction. They got symptom-free after 4 or 5 bouginages. It is of greatest importance to avoid operating on those patients who show signs of post-vagotomy dysphagia unless repeated bouginage has been performed. On one patient we used a newly designed bougie which allows dilation by complete endoscopic control.