The Usefulness of Water-drinking Ultrasonography Combined Test for Evaluating Patients with Functional Dyspepsia

The major causes of functional dyspepsia (FD) are motility dysfunction and visceral hypersensitivity. Despite the large number of diagnostic tests, there are no convenient methods for evaluation of gastric functions. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the relationship between the degree of dyspepsia and gastric accommodation, emptying, and sensitivity.

A total of 120 FD patients that met the Rome III criteria and 30 healthy volunteers were included in this cross-sectional study. The mean cross-sectional area of the fornix was measured to investigate fundic accommodation and gastric emptying during and after water intake. During the test, abdominal symptoms were evaluated using the 4-point Likert scale.

The water-drinking ultrasonography combined test revealed impairment of gastric accommodation in FD after 1,000 mL of water intake, delayed emptying after 5 min of water intake and statistically significant hyperesthesia after 400 mL of water intake in the FD group compared with healthy controls (p <œœ 0.05). Postprandial distress syndrome (PDS) and overlap syndrome were independently associated with gut motor disturbances instead of epigastric pain syndrome (EPS) (p <œœ 0.01).

The results of the present study suggest that the water-drinking ultrasonography combined test could be used for diagnosis of gastric motor and sensory dysfunction, particularly in PDS and EPS-PDS patients. This test is easy, well tolerated by the patient and can be widely applied in clinical practice.