Parietal cell vagotomy in the surgical treatment of chronic duodenal, pyloric and prepyloric ulcer disease.

During the 1970s, parietal cell vagotomy (PCV) gradually became accepted as a suitable method in the surgical treatment of prepyloric, pyloric and duodenal ulcer disease. This study reports the data from a study of 405 consecutive patients with chronic ulcer disease treated with PCV. Mortality was low (0.5%) and there were few postoperative sequelae (periodic loose stools in 2% and mild dumping in 2%). Reduction in basal acid output was 75% and in pentagastrin stimulated acid secretion 50%. The ulcer recurrence rate was initially higher in pyloric-prepyloric (PU/PPU) than in duodenal ulcer disease but after the seventh postoperative year this difference was no longer statistically significant. The accumulated recurrence rate was 17.5%. Few side effects and a comparatively low recurrence rate makes PCV the method of choice in the surgical treatment of peptic ulcer disease.