[A sonde-free method of studying the acid-forming and evacuatory functions of the stomach]

The authors have developed and validated the use of a tube-free method for examining gastric function, with acidotest dragees (2,4-diamino-4-ethoxyazobenzene) manufactured by Hinoin, Hungary, used as the acidity indicator. Parallel studies by intragastric pH-metry and x-ray examination of the stomach were carried out in 630 normal subjects and patients with gastroduodenal diseases. The findings evidence that the tube-free method permits assessing the acid-producing, evacuatory, and acid-neutralizing functions of the stomach during and between digestion secretion periods. Criteria for the assessment and normal values were defined as were the diagnostic potentialities of the method. This technique may be widely used in practical medicine, particularly in mass screenings of adults and children, in diagnostic examinations, and in assessment of the treatment efficacy.