Electrogastrography versus gastric emptying scintigraphy in children with symptoms suggestive of gastric motility disorders.
BACKGROUND
Cutaneous electrogastrography is a method of recording gastric electrical activity. Abnormalities of the electrogastrogram have been described in a variety of disorders. The purpose of the study was to correlate the electrogastrograms of children with vomiting and dyspepsia with the results of radionucleotide gastric emptying studies.


METHODS
Nine patients (5-16 years old) with gastrointestinal symptoms of vomiting and/or abdominal pain were studied. The electrogastrogram was recorded using surface electrodes for 30 minutes in the fasting state and for 120 minutes after a radioisotope-labeled solid meal. Gastric emptying was simultaneously monitored for 120 minutes. The postprandial change in dominant power (power ratio: postprandial/fasting dominant power), percentages of normal slow wave, bradygastria, and tachygastria were recorded and analyzed.


RESULTS
The patients were divided into two groups. The first group (four patients; five studies) had normal gastric emptying, whereas the second group (five patients) had delayed emptying (half-life, >90 minutes). The median power ratio in the first group was 1.69 and in the second group was 2.78; the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.90). The median difference in slow wave percentages in the fasting and postprandial periods was 0.99 in the first group and 0.73 in the second group; again, the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.27).


CONCLUSIONS
Although it is a method of assessing gastric myoelectrical activity and gastric motility disorders, electrogastrogram does not correlate with nuclear scintigraphic gastric emptying studies in children.
Barbar
M
M
Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio 44195, USA.
Steffen
R
R
Wyllie
R
R
Goske
M
M
D015746:Abdominal Pain; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004576:Electromyography; D005260:Female; D005502:Food; D005746:Gastric Emptying; D005769:Gastrointestinal Motility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D013272:Stomach Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014839:Vomiting