Assessment of gastric emptying in children: Establishment of control values utilizing a standardized vegetarian meal

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Gastroenterology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Diagnostic Imaging

Background:

• Gastric emptying disorders are significant in children.
• Scintigraphy is the gold standard for diagnosis.
• Existing normative data is primarily from adults, lacking pediatric specificity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish age-specific normative values for solid phase gastric emptying in children (5-18 years).
• To utilize scintigraphy with a standardized protocol and meal for accurate assessment.
• To address the lack of pediatric normative data in current literature.

Main Methods:

• Scintigraphy was performed using a (99m)Tc-labeled vegetarian meal.
• Dynamic imaging was conducted for the first hour, followed by static imaging at 2, 3, and 4 hours.
• Results were quantified as percent intragastric retention and lag phase (time to 5% emptying).

Main Results:

• Thirty healthy children (mean age 9.5 years) were enrolled.
• Median gastric retention values at 4 hours was 7% (0.5-22%).
• Median lag phase was 18 minutes (6-60 minutes), showing no correlation with 4-hour retention.

Conclusions:

• The study provides essential normative ranges for pediatric solid phase gastric emptying.
• Applying adult normative data to children may lead to diagnostic inaccuracies.
• These findings support more precise diagnosis and management of pediatric gastric motility disorders.