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Vagotomy is surgical incision of the vagus nerve. Vagotomy can be used, for instance, as a treatment for ulcers.
Ladislav Langer has written: 'Vagotomy and antropylorectomy in the surgical treatment of peptic ulcer' -- subject(s): Peptic ulcer, Surgery, Vagotomy
Vagotomy is the medical term meaning surgical incision of the vagus nerve.
Patients who have had a vagotomy stay in the hospital for about seven days.
Often, other gastrointestinal surgery is performed at the same time as the vagotomy. Part of the stomach may be removed, for instance. Vagotomy causes a decrease in peristalsis and a change in the emptying patterns of the stomach.
Parietal cell or proximal gastric vagotomy leaves the trunk intact, but severs the branches that go to different parts of the stomach.
Vagotomy
Ulcers recur in about 10% of those who have vagotomy without stomach removal. Recurrent ulcers are also found in 2-3% of patients who have some portion of their stomach removed.
In about 10% of those who have vagotomy without stomach removal, ulcers recur. Two to three percent of patients who have some portion of their stomach removed also have recurrent ulcers.
The lower half of the stomach makes most of the acid and gets all the peptic ulcers above the duodenum. Removing it leaves little place for ulcers to form and little acid to produce them.
Vagotomy was widely carried out for peptic ulcer disease till the late 80's. The vagus nerve supply of the stomach was cut so as to reduce the acid production in the stomach and help the ulcer to heal. With the iintroduction of new drugs - H2 antagonist like Tagamet, Ranitidine followed by Proton pump inhibitors like omeprazole, for controlling the acidity in the stomach, vagotomy is rarely carried out now.
It is an appropriate surgery when there are ulcer complications, such as obstruction of digestive flow, bleeding, or perforation.