Gastric Emptying Study
Medical Author: Dennis Lee, MD
Medical Editor: Jay W. Marks, MD
What is a gastric emptying study?
A gastric emptying study is a procedure that is done by nuclear medicine
physicians using radioactive chemicals
that measures the speed with which food empties from the stomach and enters the small intestine. Gastric emptying studies are used for testing patients who are having symptoms that may be due to slow and, less commonly, rapid emptying of the stomach. The symptoms of slow emptying are primarily nausea, vomiting, and abdominal fullness after eating. The symptoms of rapid emptying are diarrhea, weakness or light-headedness after eating after eating.
How is a gastric emptying study done?
For a gastric emptying study, a patient eats a meal in
which a solid component of the meal (for example, scrambled egg), a liquid
component of the meal (for example, water), or both, are mixed with a small amount of radioactive
material. A scanner (acting like a Geiger counter) is placed over the patient's
stomach to monitor the amount of radioactivity in the stomach for several hours
after the test meal is eaten. As the radioactively-labelled food empties from
the stomach, the amount of radioactivity in the stomach decreases. The rate at
which the radioactivity leaves the stomach reflects the rate at which food is
emptying from the stomach
Some medications such as narcotic pain
relievers and anticholinergic
medications can cause delay emptying of the stomach, while other medications
such as metoclopramide (Reglan) and erythromycin can cause
rapid emptying of the stomach. Medications that slow emptying of the stomach can
give a falsely abnormal test result, while medications that speed up emptying of
the stomach can give a falsely normal result. Therefore, medications that affect
emptying of
the stomach should be withheld for 48-72 hours before performing emptying
studies. Abnormally high blood glucose (sugar)
levels also can slow emptying of the stomach. Therefore, it is important to
control blood glucose levels to near
normal levels before performing emptying studies in patients with diabetes who
are prone to develop high blood glucose levels.
Next: When is a gastric emptying study used? »
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