Expected Values of Esophageal Transit and Gastric Emptying Scintigraphy Post-uncomplicated Sleeve Gastrectomy

Yazmin Johari; Helen Yue; Cheryl Laurie; Geoffrey Hebbard; Paul Beech; Kenneth Sk Yap; Wendy Brown; Paul Burton

doi:10.1007/s11695-021-05487-7

Expected Values of Esophageal Transit and Gastric Emptying Scintigraphy Post-uncomplicated Sleeve Gastrectomy

Obes Surg. 2021 Aug;31(8):3727-3737. doi: 10.1007/s11695-021-05487-7. Epub 2021 Jun 5.

Authors

Yazmin Johari^{1

2}, Helen Yue³, Cheryl Laurie⁴, Geoffrey Hebbard⁵, Paul Beech³, Kenneth Sk Yap^{3

6}, Wendy Brown^{4

7}, Paul Burton^{4

7}

Affiliations

¹ Monash University Department of Surgery, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Level 6, Alfred Centre, 99 Commercial Rd, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia. yazmin.joharihalimshah@monash.edu.
² Oesophago-gastric and Bariatric Unit, Department of General Surgery, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia. yazmin.joharihalimshah@monash.edu.
³ Department of Nuclear Medicine & PET, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia.
⁴ Monash University Department of Surgery, Central Clinical School, Monash University, Level 6, Alfred Centre, 99 Commercial Rd, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia.
⁵ Department of Gastroenterology, Royal Melbourne Hospital and University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, 3050, Australia.
⁶ Department of Medicine, Monash University, Alfred Hospital Campus, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia.
⁷ Oesophago-gastric and Bariatric Unit, Department of General Surgery, The Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC, 3004, Australia.

PMID: 34091832
DOI: 10.1007/s11695-021-05487-7

Abstract

Purpose: Sleeve gastrectomy (SG) results in significant anatomical and physiological alterations of the esophagus and stomach, including food tolerance. Currently, there is no consensus on the parameters of abnormal esophageal transit and gastric emptying in this population. We describe standardized esophageal transit and gastric emptying protocols, and define expected values following an uncomplicated SG.

Materials and methods: In 43 asymptomatic post-SG patients with optimal weight loss, a standardized liquid and semi-solid (oatmeal) esophageal transit study, plus a 90-min semi-solid gastric emptying study with dynamic 5-s image acquisition to assess gastroesophageal reflux, was performed. Gastric emptying half-time and retention rate was calculated. Esophageal transit and reflux were graded by visual inspection of images.

Results: Thirty-one female and 12 male patients participated: mean age 49.0±10.7 years, pre-operative BMI 47.6±7.0 kg/m², excess weight loss 58.8±26.0% at median follow-up of 7.4 months. The standardized semi-solid meal and liquid preparations were well tolerated. Delays in esophageal transit of liquid and semi-solid boluses were infrequent (7.0% and 16.3% respectively). Deglutitive reflux of both semi-solids and liquids was common (48.8% and 32.6%). The median semi-solid gastric emptying half-time was 21.0 min. A large proportion of substrate transited into the small bowel on initial image acquisition (median 39.1%). Reflux events during gastric emptying were common (median 5.0 events, 12.7% of image acquisition time).

Conclusions: Rapid gastric emptying with asymptomatic deglutitive and post-prandial gastroesophageal reflux events are common following SG. We have defined the expected values of standardized esophageal transit and gastric emptying scintigraphy specifically tailored to SG patients.

Keywords: Esophageal transit; Gastric emptying; Nuclear scintigraphy; Sleeve gastrectomy.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Esophagus / diagnostic imaging
Female
Gastrectomy
Gastric Emptying*
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Obesity, Morbid* / surgery
Radionuclide Imaging