Electrical stimulation and insulin tests used with bilateral selective vagotomy.

Completeness of vagotomy has been assessed by use of the electrical stimulation test and the insulin test in 50 patients suffering from chronic duodenal ulceration. A positive result from either was taken as evidence of incomplete vagotomy. The electrical stimulation test provided such evidence more often than the insulin test.No early positive insulin test result was encountered in any vagotomy performed with the aid of the electrical stimulation test. The number of late positive insulin results increased as the postoperative interval lengthened. It is believed that the routine use of the electrical test in this study increased the incidence of adequate nerve section.