Correlation Analysis Between Stomach Qi Deficiency Pattern and Gastric Emptying Measured by Abdominal Ultrasonography in Patients with Functional Dyspepsia

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study was to analyze the correlation between Stomach Qi Deficiency and gastric emptying as measured by abdominal ultrasonography in postprandial distress syndrome (PDS), a subgroup of functional dyspepsia (FD). Methods Ten patients who met the RomeIII diagnostic criteria for PDS and ten healthy controls participated in this study Gastric emptying shown as the half-life of gastric volume (T1/2) was measured by abdominal ultrasonography. The degree of Stomach Qi Deficiency was assessed using the scale for Stomach Qi Deficiency pattern (SSQD). In addition, functional dyspepsia-related quality of life (FD-QoL), Nepean dyspepsia index-Korean version (NDI-K), and visual analogue scale (VAS) of distention and fullness were conducted on all subjects. Results The scores of SSQD, FD-QoL, NDI-K, and VAS of distention and fullness in the patient group were significantly higher than those in the control group (p<0.05). T1/2 was also higher in the patient group than in the control group. The SSQD score significantly correlated positively with T1/2 in the patient group (r=0.640, p=0.046). However, there was no significant correlation between T1/2 and other questionnaire scores in the patient group. Conclusions Our results suggest that the gastric emptying measured by abdominal ultrasonography could be a quantitative indicator to diagnose Stomach Qi Deficiency in FD patients, especially the PDS subtype. Keywords: functional dyspepsia, postprandial distress syndrome, stomach Qi deficiency, gastric emptying, abdominal ultrasonography