Rapid gastric emptying in duodenal ulcer patients

Isosmotic liquid peptone meals adjusted to pH 7, 3, and 1.5 were instilled on separate days into the stomachs of 8 duodenal ulcer patients and 7 healthy controls. Using a marker-dilution method, duodenal acid load (DAL) was measured as the amount of unbuffered hydrogen ions delivered to the duodenum per unit time. Gastric emptying was measured as the total volume of gastric contents, including meal plus gastric secretion, passing through the pylorus per unit time (VPP). Mean pentagastrin-stimulated acid output was significantly different between the two groups. However, after all three tests meals, mean DAL was significantly greater in duodenal ulcer than in normal subjects in both hours of the test, and VPP was significantly greater in ulcer than in normal subjects in the first 40 min. In both groups, following peptone meals of pH 7 and 3, the volume of gastric contents delivered through the pylorus decreased as the amount of free hydrogen ions entering the duodenum increased, but a given load of acid was less effective in slowing emptying duodenal ulcer patients than in controls. These studies indicate that duodenal ulcer patients empty liquid meals more rapidly than do normal subjects, independent of the initial pH of the meals, and that, in addition, acid inhibition of gastric emptying is defective in duodenal ulcer.