[Gastrointestinal motility--physiology and methods of measurement]

The development of modern investigation procedures has been the cornerstone to understand the normal gastrointestinal motility. According to its physiological functions the stomach can be divided into a proximal and distal portion, which fulfill completely different tasks. In the fasted state the motility pattern of the small intestine is highly organized into a distinct and cyclic recurring of peristalsis (= Interdigestive Migrating Motor Complexes). After food ingesting this pattern is temporarily abolished and replaced by a band of random contractions (= fed pattern). Colonic contractility exhibit tonic and phasic contractions. During the day and in irregular intervals high amplitude propagated contractions occur which are sometimes associated with mass movements through the colon. To measure pressure activity in the intestine manometry has been established. Various pressure sensors are used to measure gastrointestinal contractility during fasting and after food intake. The transit process of the entire gastrointestinal tract reflects the overall gastrointestinal motor activity and is quantified at the best scintigraphically. For daily practice a simple but nevertheless reliable method to assess cursorily the colonic transit is the radiopaque marker method.