Chronic or vagal indigestion was first experimentally reproduced by Hoflund. His work demonstrated that selective abdominal vagotomy can lead to functional disturbance of the stomachs.1 Chronic or vagal indigestion is clinically characterized by anorexia and weight loss, a gradual abdominal and ruminal distension associated with abnormal reticulorumen motility, dehydration, and reduced fecal output.2-3 While a lesion to the vagal nerve can reproduce the disease, damage to the vagal nerve has not beenconsistently demonstrated in naturally occurring cases.4-5 Mechanical obstruction of the reticulo-omasal orifice or extensive peri-reticular adhesions can cause similar signs, but the vagal nerve appears normal.6-7 Therefore, the term chronic indigestion may be more appropriate than vagal indigestion to avoid confusion about the possible etiology.
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