Disturbances in the motility of the stomach are frequently encountered after laparotomy. These may become of serious import if the underlying morbid process is not corrected. In this respect an understanding of the perverted physiologic activities of the human stomach is of peculiar importance, for without it therapy is uncertain and may prove to be unsuccessful.
To investigate certain of the problems which arise concerning pathologic gastric physiologic activity, preliminary observations were made on the influence of the extrinsic innervation on the motility of the human stomach. Unusual opportunities were available for studying the effect of resection of the splanchnic and of the vagus nerves on the gastric motor function. The surgical indications, the apparatus used and an analysis of the results obtained have already been reported.1 The results of these fundamental observations led us to make an analysis of certain abnormal gastric manifestations so frequently encountered after laparotomy.