title: Breath methane associated with slow colonic transit time in children with chronic constipation.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study analyzed the relationship between methane production and colonic transit time in children with chronic constipation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty children, from 3 to 13 years of age, suffering from chronic constipation were included. Methane production was defined when the breath methane concentration was greater than 3 ppm. The total and segmental colonic transit times were measured with radio-opaque markers.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Soiling was present in 34 (85.0%) of 40 patients with constipation. Methane production was present in 25 of 34 (73.5%) patients with constipation and soiling and only in 1 (16.7%) of 6 with constipation but without soiling (P = 0.014). The medians of total colonic transit time were 80.5 and 61.0 hours, respectively (P = 0.04), in methane and nonmethane producers. Segmental colonic transit times were 17.5 and 10.5 hours, respectively (P = 0.580), in right colon, 29.5 and 10.5 hours (P = 0.001), respectively, in left colon, and 31.5 and 27.0 hours (P = 0.202), respectively, in the rectosigmoid. By the sixth week of treatment, the reduction in the total colonic transit time was greater in patients who had become nonmethane producers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The presence of breath methane in children with chronic constipation may suggest the possibility of prolonged colonic transit time.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Gastroenterology Division, Federal University of Sao Paulo, Paulista School of Medicine, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Ana Cristina Fontenele
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: Henrique Manoel
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Lederman
authors.forename: Ulysses
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Fagundes-Neto
authors.forename: Mauro Batista
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: de Morais
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001944:Breath Tests; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003248:Constipation / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005772:Gastrointestinal Transit; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008697:Methane / Q000378:metabolism*; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D008697:Methane