Gastric accommodation to distension and early gastric emptying in diabetics with neuropathy

Gastric accommodation to distension and gastric emptying were assessed in diabetics with neuropathy and in control subjects. Gastric accommodation was measured by recording intragastric pressures during the air insufflation of the stomach and gastric emptying was measured by the double sample test meal after intragastric instillation of 500 ml of saline into the empty stomach. Maximal intragastric pressures during air insufflation were significantly higher in diabetics (N = 6) than in control subjects (N = 15), 16.2 +/- 4.5 vs 10.8 +/- 2.6. The liquid volumes in the stomach five minutes after the instillation of the test meal was significantly smaller in diabetics (N = 10) than in control subjects (N = 17), 208 +/- 90 vs 294 +/- 48 ml, but no differences in volume were detected thereafter. We conclude that diabetics with neuropathy have an impaired gastric accommodation to distension and, probably as a consequence, a rapid early phase of liquid meal gastric emptying.