Measurements of gastric emptying of low‐ and high‐nutrient liquids using 3D ultrasonography and scintigraphy in healthy subjects

Abstract

Scintigraphy represents the 'gold standard' for the measurement of gastric emptying. Recent studies suggest that three-dimensional (3D) ultrasonography may allow a precise measure of gastric emptying, given the capacity for accurate volume calculations of the stomach. The aim of this study was to compare measurements of gastric emptying of both low- and high-nutrient drinks by 3D ultrasonography with scintigraphy. Ten healthy young subjects (6M, 4F, age 23.5 +/- 1.5 years) were studied on 2 days. Concurrent measurements of gastric emptying by scintigraphy and 3D ultrasonography were performed after ingestion of 500 mL beef soup (12 kcal) or 300 ml dextrose (25% w/v) (314 kcal) labelled with 20 MBq (99m)Tc-sulphur colloid. There was no significant difference between scintigraphic and ultrasonographic 50% emptying times (T50s) (soup: 27.7 +/- 4.8 min vs 23.8. +/- 4.8 min; dextrose: 122.2 +/- 13.3 min vs 131.9 +/- 10.2 min). There was a close correlation between scintigraphic and ultrasonographic T50s for both soup (r = 0.92, P = 0.0005) and dextrose (r = 0.88, P = 0.0007). For the T50s, the limits of agreement were -15.2 min and +8.1 min for the soup (mean difference -3.6 min) and -35.3 min and +47.6 min for dextrose (mean difference +6.2 min). 3D ultrasonography provides a valid measure of gastric emptying of liquid meals in healthy subjects.

Evaluation of gastrointestinal transit in clinical practice: position paper of the American and European Neurogastroenterology and Motility Societies

“…Duplex sonography can quantify transpyloric flow of liquid gastric contents and accommodation in the proximal stomach whereas 3D ultrasonography can measure gastric volume and emptying. 45 Magnetic resonance imaging Magnetic resonance imaging has been used to measure emptying, wall motion, and gastric volume, the latter being an index of gastric accommodation. Transaxial abdominal scans are generally obtained in the supine position every 15 min before and after a predominantly liquid meal applying a spin-echo technique with T1 weighted images.…”

Evaluation of gastric blood supply in diabetic patients with gastroparesis by contrast-enhanced ultrasound

“…12 Ultrasound has been used to evaluate gastric dynamics by measuring the gastric volume to assess the gastric emptying time. 24,25 However, these studies have focused only on assessment of gastric function and did not assess the microvascular system. In the present study, we describe for the first time, the use of SonoVue for studying the gastric wall microvasculature in patients with diabetes with gastroparesis.…”

GASTRIC RESIDUAL VOLUME BY MAGNETIC RESSONANCE AFTER INTAKE OF MALTODEXTRIN AND GLUTAMINE: a randomized double-blind, crossover study

“…In addition, MRI is a non-invasive exam and avoid collateral effects from radiation (9,18) . Other methods such as aspiration of the volume via nasogastric tube (7) , ultrasonography (24) , videofluoroscopy (12) , and scintigraphy (13) are also considered less precise than MRI. Gastroscopy is a reliable method to assess gastric emptying but is invasive and may require sedation (25) .…”