Measurements of gastric emptying during continuous nasogastric infusion of liquid feed: electric impedance tomography versus gamma scintigraphy.
OBJECTIVE
Continuous nasogastric infusion is commonly used to deliver enteral feed but current methods used to assess tolerance based on aspiration and measurement of gastric residual volume have been criticised. Electric impedance tomography (EIT) measures gastric emptying by monitoring changes in epigastric impedance when a meal progressively empties from the stomach.


OBJECTIVE
(1) to establish whether EIT was a valid method for measuring gastric emptying during continuous nasogastric infusion by comparing it with gamma scintigraphy (GS) and (2) to provide data on gastric emptying patterns during continuous nasogastric infusion.


METHODS
Gastric emptying of 400 ml of enteral feed given over 200 min was measured simultaneously using EIT and GS in 10 healthy volunteers (five male and five female).


RESULTS
Gastric emptying curves were obtained in 10 subjects by EIT but only eight by GS. Visual examination of the curves showed reasonable agreement. Patterns of emptying and filling during continuous nasogastric infusion were variable between individuals; the prevailing pattern was a trend towards a steady-state volume of approximately 50-125 ml.


CONCLUSIONS
While EIT does not provide an accurate estimate of gastric volume during continuous infusion, it does show patterns of gastric emptying over time. With further development this could make it a useful tool for monitoring gastric emptying in patients at risk of gastroparesis.
Soulsby
Clare T
CT
Centre for Adult and Paediatric Gastroenterology, Institute for Cell and Molecular Science, Barts and The London Medical School, London, UK.
Khela
Mandeep
M
Yazaki
Etsuro
E
Evans
David F
DF
Hennessy
Enid
E
Powell-Tuck
Jeremy
J
D000328:Adult; D017097:Electric Impedance; D004750:Enteral Nutrition; D005260:Female; D005526:Food, Formulated / Q000032:analysis*; D005746:Gastric Emptying / Q000502:physiology*; D005766:Gastrointestinal Contents / Q000737:chemistry; D018589:Gastroparesis / Q000175:diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D007441:Intubation, Gastrointestinal; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity