title: Assessment of the preserved function of the remnant stomach in pylorus-preserving gastrectomy by gastric emptying scintigraphy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study evaluated the preserved function of the remnant stomach by gastric emptying scintigraphy in patients who underwent pylorus-preserving gastrectomy (PPG), and it investigated whether this examination method is a useful tool for evaluation.
  
  
  METHODS
  The residual stomach function was evaluated by gastric emptying scintigraphy in 45 patients with early gastric cancer who had undergone PPG. Function was classified as rapid, intermediate, and delayed emptying types according to gastric emptying curves. Then, the relationships were examined between the gastric emptying types and postprandial symptoms, food intake status, body weight changes, and endoscopic findings.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Seventy-three percent of the PPG patients were classified as belonging to the intermediate emptying type, and the remainder to the delayed emptying type. The frequencies of complaints such as epigastric fullness, nausea, and vomiting were high in the delayed emptying-type patients. The intermediate emptying-type patients consumed larger amounts of food and gained more weight than the delayed emptying-type patients. It was difficult to estimate gastric emptying function from endoscopic findings.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Gastric function was evaluated by gastric emptying scintigraphy in PPG patients. This method might be useful not only for evaluating the motor function of the remnant stomach, but also for predicting postoperative status.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Kansai Medical University, 10-15 Fumizonocho, Moriguchi, Osaka, 570-8507, Japan. michiurt@takii.kmu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Taku
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Michiura
authors.forename: Yasushi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakane
authors.forename: Tatsuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kanbara
authors.forename: Koji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakai
authors.forename: Kentaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Inoue
authors.forename: Keigo
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamichi
authors.forename: Yasuo
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kamiyama
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001835:Body Weight; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000379:methods*; D005746:Gastric Emptying / Q000502:physiology*; D018530:Gastric Stump / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005773:Gastroscopy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019518:Postprandial Period; D011708:Pylorus; D011877:Radionuclide Imaging; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome