Dyspeptic symptoms and water load test in patients with functional dyspepsia and reflux disease.
OBJECTIVE
Hypersensitivity to gastric distension has been reported in functional dyspepsia (FD). The aim of this study was to assess the perception to gastric distension and its relationship to specific symptoms using the water load test (WLT) in FD and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).


METHODS
A 5-min WLT was used to evaluate sensitivity of gastric distension in 47 FD and 61 GERD subjects, and 49 healthy controls (HC). A visual analogue scale (VAS) measuring symptom severity was obtained from all subjects and its relationship with the maximal ingested volume was determined. The maximal ingested volume was registered and the subjective symptoms were assessed at baseline and 30 min after the WLT.


RESULTS
The maximal ingested volume by HC was 597 +/- 33 ml, which was statistically greater than that of FD (422 +/- 22 ml, p < 0.001) and GERD (504 +/- 23 ml, p < 0.02) subjects. The maximal ingested volume did not differ significantly between FD and GERD. The maximal ingested volume correlated well with nausea (r = -0.49, p < 0.01) and fullness (r = -0.33, p < 0.05) in FD. Male subjects ingested more water than females in the HC (p < 0.01) and GERD groups (p < 0.05), but not in FD (p = NS).


CONCLUSIONS
Both FD and GERD subjects have altered perception to gastric fullness induced by the WLT compared to healthy controls. Good correlations have been observed between the WLT and dyspeptic symptoms such as early satiety and postprandial fullness, but not in GERD.
Chen
C L
CL
Department of Medicine, Buddhist Tzu Chi Hospital and University School of Medicine, Hualien, Taiwan. clchen@tzuchi.org.tw
Lin
H H
HH
Chen
M C
MC
Huang
L C
LC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine / Q000379:methods; D004326:Drinking; D004415:Dyspepsia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D005746:Gastric Emptying / Q000502:physiology; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011336:Probability; D011446:Prospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014867:Water
D014867:Water