THE EFFECTS OF VAGOTOMY ON BACTERIAL TRANSLOCATION - AN EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY

The effects of truncal vagotomy and proximal gastric vagotomy on bacte rial translocation in rats were investigated in this experiment. The r ats were divided into three groups. Only esophageal and gastric manipu lations were performed in the control group (Group I). The anterior an d posterior vagi were found and 0.5- to 1-cm pieces were takes out in the truncal vagotomy + pyloric dilatation group. In addition, pyloric dilatation was performed using a Fogarty catheter (Group II). The bran ches of the vagi, which lead to the rumen and corpus, were first tied with 5/O silk and then resected in the proximal gastric vagotomy group (Group III). All animals were sacrificed on the 7th day. Qualitative and quantitative tissue cultures of cecum, liver, spleen, mesenteric l ymph node, and blood from vena cava were taken and a tissue sample fro m the ileum was obtained for histopathological examination with light microscopy. At the end of microbiologic study, the bacterial concentra tion on the cecal wall was 10.68 X 10(8) in the truncal vagotomy group , while it was 0.53 X 10(8) in the proximal gastric vagotomy group. Ba cterial translocation was observed more in vagotomy groups than in con trol groups on the mesenteric lymph node, liver, and spleen. Bacterial translocation was greater in the truncal vagotomy group than in the p roximal gastric vagotomy group (P < 0.05). Bacterial translocation was observed mostly in the liver, spleen, and mesenteric lymph node in th e proximal gastric vagotomy group. No microorganisms could be cultured on systemic blood cultures. Cultures were positive only for one rat i n the proximal gastric vagotomy group and for two rats in the truncal vagotomy group. At the end of histopathologic examination, when histop athologic parameters given for each rat were calculated, they were 5.4 4 +/- 2.12 in the truncal vagotomy group and 4.77 +/- 2.12 the in prox imal gastric vagotomy group. The difference between these two groups w as statistically significant (P < 0.05). Thus, there was damage to the intestinal wall in vagotomy groups, and it was greater in the truncal vagotomy group than in the proximal gastric vagotomy group. It was ob served that bacterial translocation occurs after vagotomy, that this t ranslocation occurs more after truncal vagotomy than after proximal ga stric vagotomy, and that the translocation that occurred after vagotom ies was not effective enough to create bacteremia. (C) 1997 Academic P ress.