Content area
Full Text
Dig Dis Sci (2011) 56:11381146 DOI 10.1007/s10620-011-1635-9
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Gastric Emptying of Solids and Liquids for Evaluation for Gastroparesis
Priyanka Sachdeva Nidhi Malhotra Murali Pathikonda
Umar Khayyam Robert S. Fisher Alan H. Maurer
Henry P. Parkman
Received: 12 September 2010 / Accepted: 14 February 2011 / Published online: 2 March 2011 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011
AbstractBackground Gastric emptying scintigraphy (GES) of solids is typically used to evaluate for gastroparesis.
Aims The purpose of this study was to determine the value of simultaneously measuring gastric emptying of liquids and solids for assessing patients for delayed gastric emptying.
Methods A total of 596 patients at our institution from September 2007 to January 2010 underwent GES with assessment of both solid and liquid gastric emptying. An EggBeaters with jam sandwich meal radiolabeled with
Tc-99 m was used for solid GES and water radiolabeled with In-111 for liquid GES.
Results Inclusion criteria (no medications affecting gastric motility in 48 h prior to test; no prior gastric surgery) was met by 449 patients. Liquid gastric emptying was signicantly correlated to solid gastric emptying: 30 min (r = 0.652, P \ 0.001), 60 min (r = 0.624, P \ 0.001)
and 120 min (r = 0.766, P \ 0.001). Interestingly, 60 patients, of which 57 were nondiabetic, had normal solid
GES but delayed liquid emptying and represented 26% of the 228 patients with normal solid GES. Gastric retention
of solids was mildly correlated with nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, early satiety and feeling excessively full after meals. Gastric emptying of liquids was associated with early satiety and loss of appetite.
Conclusions Gastric emptying of liquids correlates well with gastric emptying of solids. When evaluating patients for gastroparesis, assessment of gastric emptying of liquids in addition to solids may help identify additional patients with delayed gastric emptying, particularly non-diabetic patients where 26% with normal solid emptying may have delayed emptying of liquids. Symptoms of gastroparesis, however, are primarily associated with delayed gastric emptying of solids.
Keywords Gastric emptying scintigraphy Gastroparesis
Nausea Vomiting
Introduction
Gastroparesis can be dened as delayed emptying of the stomach in the absence of underlying mechanical obstruction [1]. The three major categories include diabetes, post-surgical and idiopathic gastroparesis. Delayed gastric emptying may be an important cause of...