Gastric Motility Patterns Research Articles

Effects of Diet Temperature on Tolerance of Enteral Feedings

Nasogastric tube feedings administered at three temperatures were studied for effect on gastric motility, total gastrointestinal transit time, diarrhea, and subjective sensations in normal volunteers. Following a period of base-line observation, six volunteers received tube feedings at one of three temperatures: cold (8-11 degrees C), room (23-26 degrees C), or warm (36-39 degrees C). There was no significant difference between the temperature of the feeding and gastric motility patterns in selected postfeeding periods. Administration of diets at all three temperatures resulted in a similar decrease in the frequency of gastric contraction and similar patterns of return of gastric activity. After cold feedings two subjects experienced cramping accompanied by diarrhea. No gastrointestinal disturbances were reported following warmer infusions.

The gastric motility patterns induced by direct and reflex excitation of the vagus nerves in the anaesthetized ferret.

1. Under urethane anaesthesia the ferret has a stomach which exhibited spontaneous contractions. The amplitude of the contractions was reduced, but never abolished, by vagotomy, atropine or hexamethonium. 2. Electrical stimulation of the cut peripheral end of the cervical or abdominal vagus nerves activated both excitatory and inhibitory fibres, whereas reflex activation by stomach distension or by cytoglucopenia was predominantly excitatory on gastric motility. The magnitude of the response to electrical stimulation was dependent upon the stimulus frequency, duration and voltage. Stimulation for periods longer than 10 sec at 10 Hz caused an increase in tone and motility which declined almost to control values if it was sufficiently prolonged. 3. Short duration stimulation, 10 sec or less, at 10 Hz produced a single gastric contraction. An identical response could only be produced if a period of rest from 30 to 120 sec separated two such stimuli. 4. The frequency of gastric contractions was independent of the frequency of nerve stimulation. 5. Using a divided stomach, vagal non-cholinergic, non-adrenergic fibres were shown to cause mainly relaxation of the corpus region. Similar fibres supplied the antrum and their activation caused inhibition of spontaneous contractions. The transmitter may be 'purinergic' as rebound contractions were observed.

Fasting Gastric Motility in Duodenal Ulcer Patients

Gastric hypermotility is generally assumed to be a prominent characteristic of the duodenal ulcer patient. A review' of the evidence indicates that this assumption is not as well supported as one would suppose, considering the frequency of duodenal ulcer and the amount of work which has been directed to the study of its pathologic physiology. A recent publication2 attributes merit to a new antispasmodic drug on the basis of its inhibitory effect on the usual pattern of fasting gastric motility in duodenal ulcer patients. According to the authors, this pattern consists of periods of contractions occurring regularly at intervals not exceeding 30 minutes. The purpose of the present communication is to summarize our observations on the fasting gastric motility of duodenal ulcer patients.