vagotomy

[ vey-got-uh-mee ]

noun

, plural va·got·o·mies.

1. the surgical severance of vagus nerve fibers, performed to reduce acid secretion by the stomach.

vagotomy

/ væˈɡɒtəmɪ /

noun

1. surgical division of the vagus nerve, performed to limit gastric secretion in patients with severe peptic ulcers

Word History and Origins

Origin of vagotomy¹

First recorded in 1900–05; vago- + -tomy

Word History and Origins

Origin of vagotomy¹

C19: from vag ( us ) + -tomy

Example Sentences

Scientists have found that people are less likely to get Parkinson’s if they’ve had a vagotomy, a treatment for stomach ulcers that severs the vagal nerve, which branches down from the brain into various tissues of the gut.

From Science Magazine

Recent epidemiological examinations of vagotomy patients whose vagus nerves were severed show that they have a lower risk of developing Parkinson’s.

From Scientific American

What they found did not appear, at first, to be telling: Sweden’s 9,430 vagotomy patients were statistically no less likely to develop Parkinson’s over time than were the 377,200 non-vagotomized Swedes that made up the comparison group.

From Seattle Times

The study authors, from Sweden’s Karolinska Institute, the University of Southern California and elsewhere, combed through a registry of Swedish medical records to compare rates of Parkinson’s disease among people who got that surgical procedure, a vagotomy, and those who had not.

From Seattle Times

They wondered if, incidental to a vagotomy’s role as a treatment for peptic ulcers, it might also drive down the risk of Parkinson’s by blocking alpha-synuclein’s route to the brain.

From Seattle Times