Gastric emptying in patients with chronic renal failure on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

Radionuclide gastric emptying studies were carried out on 20 patients with end-stage renal failure (ESRF) undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Nine of the patients had diabetes mellitus. Eight normal volunteers were also studied to establish normal ranges. Solid and liquid emptying patterns were investigated simultaneously using a meal made up of a solid phase labelled with 99mTechnetium and a liquid phase labelled with 111Indium. The solid emptying fitted a model with a lag phase followed by a linear emptying phase and the liquid emptying fitted a single exponential. Nine of the 20 patients (four diabetic, five non-diabetic) were found to have delayed solid emptying, and four of these (two diabetic, two non-diabetic) also had delayed liquid emptying. No correlation was found between any of the parameters studied and the clinical symptoms of the patients. It is concluded that almost half of the patients studied had abnormal gastric emptying, but that many of these did not suffer from severe symptoms.