title: Evaluation of electrical activity after vagus nerve-preserving distal gastrectomy using multichannel electrogastrography.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Multichannel electrogastrography (M-EGG) can be used to evaluate gastrointestinal motility. The myoelectric activity of the remnant stomach after surgery has not been measured by M-EGG. This study examined whether myoelectric activity varied with surgical technique and compared vagus nerve-preserving distal gastrectomy (VP-DG) with standard distal gastrectomy without vagus nerve preservation (DG). Furthermore, we examined the relationship between the M-EGG findings and patients' postoperative symptoms.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-six patients who underwent VP-DG, 20 who underwent DG, and 12 healthy volunteers as controls were examined with M-EGG. The Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale (GSRS) was used to assess postoperative symptoms.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Longer periods of normal gastric function (normogastria, 2.0-4.0 cycle min(-1)) were detected in channel 1 in the VP-DG group than in the DG group in either the fasted or fed state (P<0.05). The percentage of slow wave coupling (%SWC) in the fed state correlated negatively with GSRS scores (reflux, r=-0.59, P=0.02; abdominal pain, r=-0.51, P=0.04, indigestion, r=-0.59, P=0.02 and total score, r=-0.75, P=0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Slow waves can be recorded non-invasively using M-EGG in the remnant stomach following gastrectomy. The VP-DG group showed better preserved gastric myoelectric activity than the DG group, and the %SWC showed a significant negative correlation with scores of GSRS (reflux, abdominal pain, indigestion and total score) in the VP-DG group.
authors.affiliation: Department of Digestive Surgery, Kawasaki Medical School, Japan. hal-mura@med.kawasaki-m.ac.jp
authors.forename: Haruaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Murakami
authors.forename: Hideo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: Hisako
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kubota
authors.forename: Masaharu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Higashida
authors.forename: Masafumi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Toshihiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hirai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004576:Electromyography / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005743:Gastrectomy / Q000379:methods*; D005769:Gastrointestinal Motility; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011184:Postoperative Period; D011788:Quality of Life; D013270:Stomach / Q000294:innervation* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D063189:Symptom Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D014630:Vagus Nerve / Q000502:physiology*