Variations in gastric emptying times of three stomach regions for simple and complex meals using scintigraphy

Scintigraphy has been used to study gastric emptying in normal subjects when fed simple and complex meals as part of a larger project where electrical impedance epigastrography has also been used simultaneously with a conventional scintigraphic technique. In this paper, the results of the scintigraphic data analysis for emptying times of the fundus, body, and antrum, as well as the whole stomach are presented since variations have been found in the half-emptying values depending on the region, of the stomach selected. When a meal enters the stomach, mixing waves begin. These waves macerate the meal with gentle, rippling, peristaltic movements, mixing it with secretions of the gastric glands. Few mixing waves are observed in the fundus, which primarily functions as a storage compartment. More vigorous mixing waves begin at the body part and persist for a few minutes before intensifying as they reach the antrum. We propose that scintigraphic measurements of gastric emptying using the triregional pattern can be sensitive in quantifying emptying of simple and complex liquids and the method has the ability to measure the emptying rates of the different parts of the stomach for these meals. Observed relationships between scintigraphic measurements of the various parts of the stomach and gastric emptying indicate that in all types of meals, the body region represents well the overall emptying time of the whole stomach. Whereas in the antral region, the emptying time is longer for the simple meals and relatively shorter for the complex ones.