VAGOTOMY IN THE TREATMENT OF GASTROJEJUNAL ULCERATION: A POSTOPERATIVE CLINICAL AND LABORATORY STUDY

The clinical features and the immediate postoperative results have been studied in 118 cases of gastrojejunal ulcer and four cases of gastroduodenal ulcer (table 1) in which vagotomy has been performed at the Mayo Clinic from 1945 to January, 1951. In the group in which the abdominal approach was used, marked jejunitis or actual ulcer with crater found at operation is included as a case of gastrojejunal ulcer. In cases in which the thoracic approach was used, the diagnosis was based on the clinical and laboratory findings. Results have been determined one to five years after operation by reexamination and laboratory studies in 13 of these cases and from questionnaires in 84. During the interval under consideration more patients returned for examination and laboratory studies, but these figures represent the means by which the latest information was obtained. Seventeen patients were operated on less than one year before the date