ANATOMIC STUDY OF THE VAGUS NERVES

Abstract

IN THE treatment of duodenal ulcer by resection of the vagus nerve supply to the stomach, knowledge of the anatomy of the vagus nerves is of fundamental importance. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a study of these nerves carried out in the Department of Anatomy of the University of Michigan between October 1946 and April 1947 and to suggest a new technic of transabdominal vagus resection based on this study. The vagus nerves have been described by Swan,¹Bourgery,²Kollman,³Perman,⁴Latarjet,⁵McCrea,⁶Mitchell⁷and recently by Miller and Davis,⁸Bradley, Small, Wilson and Walters,⁹Chamberlin and Winship¹⁰and by Dragstedt, Fournier, Woodward, Tovee and Harper.¹¹In a preliminary report of this anatomic study¹²the literature on the subject was summarized and as a complete report containing this summary will be published