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Updated: Jul 18, 2026
Gastrointestinal Motility Monitor (GIMM)
Published on: December 1, 2010
Electrogastrography in the management of pediatric functional dyspepsia and motility disorder
Michael W Y Leung1, Beatrice P Y Wong, Nicholas S Y Chao
1Division of Paediatric Surgery, Department of Surgery, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong. leungwym@hotmail.com
Insights
Electrogastrography (EGG) effectively identifies abnormal gastric myoelectrical activity in children with functional dyspepsia (FD) and gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorders, differentiating them from healthy children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Gastroenterology
- Gastrointestinal Motility Disorders
- Noninvasive Diagnostic Techniques
Background:
- Functional dyspepsia (FD) and gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorders are common in children.
- Assessing gastric myoelectrical activity is crucial for diagnosing these conditions.
- Electrogastrography (EGG) offers a noninvasive method to evaluate gastric function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate gastric myoelectrical activity using EGG in children with FD and GI motility disorders.
- To compare EGG findings and dyspepsia symptom scores between these pediatric groups and healthy controls.
- To determine if EGG can identify abnormal gastric myoelectrical activity in children with these conditions.
Main Methods:
- Recruited 17 children with FD, 9 with GI motility disorder, and 8 healthy controls (ages 6-18).
- Administered a dyspepsia symptom score and performed electrogastrography (EGG) on all participants.
- Defined normogastria as 2-4 cycles/min; abnormal EGG was <70% normogastria. Statistical analysis used Wilcoxon rank sum and Fisher's Exact tests.
Main Results:
- Children with FD (6.71) and GI motility disorder (5.54) had significantly higher dyspepsia scores than controls (0.25).
- Abnormal EGG patterns were observed in 58.9% of FD patients versus 12.5% of controls (P=.042).
- Abnormal EGG patterns were found in 55.6% of GI patients, though not statistically significant compared to controls (P=.131).
Conclusions:
- Electrogastrography (EGG) is a valuable noninvasive tool for assessing gastric myoelectrical activity in pediatric FD and GI motility disorders.
- Abnormal EGG patterns are more prevalent in children with FD, suggesting a role in diagnosis.
- EGG aids in the evaluation of abnormal gastric function in children presenting with dyspepsia symptoms.
Purpose:
Electrogastrography (EGG) is a noninvasive investigation for recording gastric myoelectrical activity. We hypothesize that children with functional dyspepsia (FD) and gastrointestinal (GI) motility disorder have abnormal gastric myoelectrical activity. We aim to study the dyspepsia symptom scores and EGG of these children and compare them with those of the normal population.
Methods:
Seventeen children aged 6 to 18 years with persistent dyspepsia symptoms but with normal investigations were recruited as the FD group. Nine children with same age as the FD group with known upper GI motility disorder were recruited as the GI group. Eight normal healthy children were recruited as controls (CL). Dyspepsia symptom score (0-18) was charted, and all had EGG performed. Gastric slow wave frequency of 2 to 4 cycles per minute is defined as normogastria. Electrogastrography is regarded as abnormal when normogastria occurs in less than 70% of recorded time. Wilcoxon rank sum test and Fisher's Exact test were performed with statistical significance at P value equal to .05.
Results:
Mean dyspepsia symptom score was significantly different in comparing FD and GI with CL groups (FD, 6.71; GI, 5.54; CL, 0.25; P < .001). Abnormal EGG patterns occur more often in FD than in CL (FD, 58.9%; CL, 12.5%; P = .042). Abnormal EGG patterns were found in 55.6% of GI and 12.5% of CL (P = .131).
Conclusions:
Electrogastrography is a useful and noninvasive armamentarium for evaluating the abnormal myoelectrical activity in children with FD and GI motility disorder.
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