Received July 23, 2006
Revised October 11, 2006
Accepted after revision December 8, 2006

Adam Kiciak ^1*, Jarosaw Woliski ², Katarzyna Borycka ¹, Romuald Zabielski ³, Krzysztof Bielecki ¹

¹ Department of General and Gastrointestinal Surgery, Orlowski Hospital MCPE, Warsaw, Poland
² The Kielanowski Institute of Animal Physiology and Nutrition, Polish Academy of Sciences, Jab&lonna
³ Department of Physiological Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw Agricultural University

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: adamkic{at}yahoo.com.

	Abstract

We designed a conscious pig model to investigate myoelectric activity and the number of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) in the proximal jejunum following the Roux-en-Y and "un-cut"Roux procedures in relation to clinical outcomes. Twelve male Polish White pigs (8 weeks, 10-13 kg) were operated on under general anesthesia first to implant bipolar electrodes and telemetry transmitters for continuous electromyography recordings and then, after one week recovery, to create Roux-en-Y (n=6) and "un-cut"Roux (n=6) loops. Upper gut tissue specimens were taken for an anti-human CD-117 staining procedure to quantitatively identify the presence of interstitial cells of Cajal. The intestinal migrating motor complex (MMC) was restored within 10.5 h and 37 h in "un-cut"Roux and Roux-en-Y pigs, respectively (p <=0.05). During two weeks, the "un-cut"Roux piglets increased their body weight by 18.0%, whereas the Roux-en-Y piglets, by 7.3% (p <=0.05). Two weeks after surgery, the number of ICC located in the region of Auerbach’s plexus was higher and adhesions in the abdominal cavity lower in the "un-cut"Roux group. Concluding, in the pig model, preservation of smooth muscle and ICC network continuity in the proximal jejunum may play an important role in early post-surgical recovery.

Key Words: Electromyogram, Gastrointestinal tract, Motor control