Is gastroparesis a gastric disease?

Gastroparesis is a digestive syndrome characterized by delayed gastric emptying (GE) and by symptoms that are suggestive of gastroduodenal motor disorders. There are three grades of gastroparesis of increasing severity: (a) mild gastroparesis; (b) compensated gastroparesis; and (c) gastric failure. GE abnormalities are partially related to symptom type and severity, and other mechanisms may be involved.

To investigate enteric dysmotility (ED) in patients with suspected gastroparesis.

Patients with symptoms suggestive of gastroparesis were consecutively included in the study and underwent a ¹³ C-octanoic acid GE breath test and small bowel manometry (SBM). Clinical features were recorded using predefined, validated questionnaires at entry.

The study enrolled 88 patients (71 women; mean age: 37.8 ± 14.3 years). Gastric emptying was delayed in 25 patients (28.4%), and 70 patients (79.5%) presented small bowel motor abnormalities including bursts, abnormal activity fronts, inability to respond to meal ingestion, and hypocontractility. Gastric emptying was delayed in 24 of the 70 patients with ED (34.3% vs 5.5% of patients with normal SBM). Enteric dysmotility was detected in 24 of 25 patients (96%) with delayed GE. Patients with and without delayed GE showed similar moderate/severe gastroparesis manifestations, but patients with ED significantly more often had moderate/severe gastroparesis manifestations than patients with normal SBM (grade 1:14% vs 39%, grade 2:62% vs 56%, grade 3:24% vs 5%, respectively).

Enteric dysmotility was more frequent than delayed GE in patients with symptoms suggestive of gastroparesis. Gastroparesis severity was associated with small bowel motor abnormalities but not with delayed GE.