Human postprandial gastric emptying of 1-3-millimeter spheres

Microspheres of pancreatin should empty from the stomachs of patients with pancreatic insufficiency as fast as food. The present study was undertaken in 26 healthy subjects to identify the size of spheres that would empty from the stomach with food and to determine whether different meals alter this size. Spheres of predefined sizes were labeled with 113mIn or 99mTc. Using a gamma-camera, we studied the concurrent gastric emptying of spheres labeled with 113mIn and of chicken liver labeled with 99mTc in 100-g, 154-kcal or 420-g, 919-kcal meals, or the concurrent emptying of 1-mm vs. larger spheres. One-millimeter spheres emptied consistently (p less than 0.01, paired t-test) faster than 2.4- or 3.2-mm spheres when ingested together with either the 420- or 100-g meals. Thus, in the 1-3-mm range of diameters, sphere size was a more important determinant of sphere emptying than meal size. Statistical analyses indicated that spheres 1.4 +/- 0.3 mm in diameter with a density of 1 empty at the same rate as 99mTc-liver. Our data indicate some commercially marketed microspheres of pancreatin will empty too slowly to be effective in digestion of food.