Regenerative potential of abdominal vagal nerves in rats

After truncal vagotomy, impaired gastric emptying may represent a serious complication. This led us to study the feasibility of a reinnervation of the antrum by microsurgical vagorrhaphy and vagoplasty. Sixty-four rats were randomly assigned to undergo either 1) no operation (control), 2) laparotomy and vagal dissection (sham operation), 3) truncal abdominal vagotomy with nerve segment resection, 4) truncal vagotomy followed by vagorrhaphy, or 5) vagal resection extending to the nerve of Latarjet followed by grafting of the gap using the resected vagal segment (vagoplasty). Six months after surgery, vagal regeneration was assessed by morphometry of the anterior vagus and the antral wall and by recording the gastric emptying of a radiolabeled meal, the contractile response to electrical stimulation of the cervical vagi, and basal and insulin-stimulated acid secretion. After truncal vagotomy, there was a marked degeneration of vagal fibers and no evidence of spontaneous reinnervation. After vagorrhaphy, a recovery of gastric secretory and motor functions as well as morphological data indicated vagal regeneration. After vagoplasty, a partial recovery of gastric motor functions and the morphological appearance suggested a partial vagal reinnervation.