COMPARISON OF 4 MINIMALLY INVASIVE METHODS OF LAPAROSCOPIC VAGOTOMY IN A PORCINE MODEL

Background: An experimental study in a porcine model was undertaken to evaluate the currently available techniques of laparoscopic vagotomy. Methods: Four groups of pigs were studied. Under general anesthesia, the animals were submitted to either bilateral vagotomy, bilateral hig hly selective vagotomy, posterior truncal vagotomy with anterior highl y selective vagotomy, or Taylor's procedure. Gastric acid secretion an d intestinal motility were evaluated before and after the surgical pro cedure. The feasibility of the four different techniques was assessed by means of a personal difficulty score. Results: All four procedures produced significant acid secretory reduction. Multivariate analysis s howed that the factor most affecting the outcome was the difficulty sc ore. Conclusions: Taylor's procedure was the easiest and safest techni que. It also produced the best functional results for secretion and mo tility.