Where do we stand on gastric motility?

This review deals with several aspects of gastrointestinal motility. It attempts to relate basic knowledge to clinically relevant issues. The review is organized around specific contractile patterns and tasks in the gastrointestinal region that are grouped into three broad categories: tonic contractility of the stomach, antral phasic contractility, and resistance of the gastric outlet. There is also a section dealing with the evaluation of gastric motor function for diagnostic purposes describing the technologic means for investigating motility disorders in patients presenting with different clinical syndromes. In this section there is also reference to the criteria to be used in interpretation of the results and practical advice on the use of each test. Finally, the review deals with the issue of treatment of gastric motor disorders, comprising both dietary and pharmacologic approaches.