The long-term results of proximal gastric vagotomy

Since 1969 we have performed proximal gastric vagotomy (PGV) in 514 patients. PGV without drainage was performed, before 1978, in 304 patients with one death (0.3%) and of these, 242 have been followed for from five to 13 years. Good clinical results were achieved in 78% but there were 32 recurrent ulcers. When two patients with Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome were excluded the late recurrence rate was 12.7%. There was no difference between the clinical results of men and women. When all the recurrent ulcers and two patients with gastric retention had been treated, mostly by operation, good results were recorded in 90% of our series. We conclude that PGV is the best operation at present available for uncomplicated duodenal ulcer.