Early results of proximal gastric vagotomy in perforated duodenal ulcer

The author examines 30 cases of perforated duodenal ulcer, treated by simple closure of the perforation and highly selective gastric vagotomy, and reviews the literature. He compares the results with those obtained by truncal vagotomy with drainage, vagotomy with antrectomy and partial gastrectomy and finds both morbidity and mortality to be lower with highly selective vagotomy. The recurrence rates reported are between 0 and 6.4%.