EFFECT OF CELIAC AND SUPERIOR MESENTERIC GANGLIONECTOMY ON FASTED CANINE COLONIC MOTOR-ACTIVITY

The role played by extrinsic nerves in colonic motor activity and moto r coordination between the small intestine and the colon in the fastin g state was investigated in a canine model. To evaluate motor acivity before and after celiac and superior mesenteric ganglionectomy (CSMG), seven strain gauge force transducers were implanted in the small and large bowels of five dogs. No significant differences were observed in the frequency, duration, cycle, or migration time of bursts of contra ctions from the colon (BCC), or in the duration of the quiescent state before and after CSMG. When small intestinal phase III activity reach ed the ileocecal junction before and after CSMG, a characteristic cont ractile pattern, namely, small intestinal phase III activity followed by BCC, was observed at the ileocecal junction. Before and after CSMG, 84% and 83% of the small intestinal phase III activity, respectively, was transmitted to the colon as BCC after reaching the ileocecal junc tion. However, only 19% and 18% of BCC before and after CSMG, respecti vely, followed small intestinal phase III activity. These results led us to conclude that the extrinsic nerves exert little effect on fastin g colonic motor activity and motor transmission from the small intesti ne to the colon.