Electrical activity and intraluminal pressures in the lower small intestine of turkeys

To study ileal motility, 14 young turkeys were surgically prepared with a fistula and 3 bipolar Ag/AgCl electrodes in the ileum. Electric slow waves were recorded which averaged 0.45 mV in amplitude and 6.1 waves/min in frequency. They seldom waned, had no wave-form characteristic of a particular region of the ileum, and action-potential bursts did not occur at a particular phase of the slow wave. Action potentials, associated with contractions, averaged 0.21 mV in amplitude. An average of 4.0 pressure changes occurrd per minute and their amplitude averaged 16.2 mm Hg. Slow waves apparently were the primary regulators of ileal motility, although another type of activity may also have been involved. The latter activity consisted of intensive action-potential activity associated with high-frequency, high-amplitude contractile activity which appeared to move periodically aborally down the ileum.