Parietal Cell Vagotomy Without Drainage for Treatment of Duodenal Ulcer

Parietal cell vagotomy (PCV) without drainage was performed on 35 patients. Three patients died during the study from causes unrelated to duodenal ulcer. Thirty-one (97%) of the remaining patients were followed up for two years; 66% have been studied after three years. At the end of two years, the mean basal acid output and peak hourly basal secretion rate were 43% and 47% less than the preoperative values, respectively. The number of patients with a negative insulin test result postoperatively fell from 64% of patients tested at two months to 44% at two years. The number of patients with an early positive insulin test result rose from 13% at two months to 28% at two years after operation. There were two recurrent duodenal ulcers; one required reoperation. A gastric ulcer developed in one patient who was taking massive doses of aspirin; the ulcer healed after aspirin withdrawal. One patient required operation for pyloric obstruction. Both dumping and diarrhea were reported by 7% of patients. These results suggest that PCV without drainage is an acceptable procedure for treatment of duodenal ulcer.