| Disorders of gastric emptying are rare in healthy infants and children. Delayed gastric emptying is encountered in adults after operations on the stomach, such as vagotomy and partial gastrectomy, and is extremely rare in young patients. The authors report on a 15-year-old patient with gastroparesis after three attempts to repair a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Medical therapeutic trials consisting of all combinations of diet regimes with various gastrokinetic drugs failed to alleviate the intractable vomiting. All the patient's symptoms resolved after subtotal gastrectomy with gastroduodenostomy (Billroth I). ( info) |
2/59. Novel surgical treatment and gastric pathology in diabetic gastroparesis. AIMS: Observations are made on four Type 1 diabetic patients with the rare syndrome of intractable vomiting from confirmed gastroparesis, to determine whether radical surgery would alleviate their symptoms and subsequently to examine in detail the gastric histopathology. methods: The surgical approach consisted of an approximate 70% resection of the stomach, including the antrum and pylorus, with closure of the duodenum and restoration of gastrointestinal continuity with a 60-cm Roux-en-Y jejunal loop. Four longstanding Type 1 diabetic patients were examined and treated as described. They were all women in the age range 2741 years with grossly abnormal autonomic function tests in whom other causes for gastric paresis had been excluded. RESULTS: vomiting episodes leading to multiple hospital admissions (6-8) in the year preceding surgery were eliminated in three of the four patients, while in the fourth initial success was followed by the need for dialysis for renal failure. Gastric histopathology showed evidence of smooth muscle degeneration and fibrosis, with eosinophilic inclusion bodies (M-bodies) which appear to be unique to this condition. The findings suggest the presence of a gastromyopathy. CONCLUSIONS: Satisfactory relief of intractable vomiting from diabetic gastroparesis was achieved by a novel radical surgical procedure. Histopathological findings suggest that gastromyopathy may contribute to the production of this syndrome. ( info) |
3/59. University of Miami Division of Clinical pharmacology therapeutic rounds: update on diagnosis and treatment of gastroparesis. gastroparesis, defined as delayed gastric emptying because of abnormal gastric motility in the absence of mechanical outlet obstruction, is a common problem causing significant morbidity. Although many cases are caused by diabetes, more than 90 different conditions are known to interfere with normal gastric motor function (Scand J Gastroenterol 1995;30[suppl]:7-16). patients may present with nausea, vomiting, heartburn, early satiety, or postprandial pain. The current gold standard for quantifying gastric emptying is nuclear scintigraphy. The main goal of treatment is to improve patient comfort by accelerating the rate of gastric emptying, which may be achieved through dietary changes and the use of prokinetic agents. In rare instances, relief can only be obtained with surgical intervention. This report reviews the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, evaluation, and treatment of patients with gastroparesis, an understanding of which will lead to more effective patient care. ( info) |
4/59. gastroparesis and jejunal feeding. A kidney transplant patient with diabetic gastroparesis was effectively treated by jejunal feeding. The patient, a 31-year-old woman, has a complicated medical history, with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. Complications include kidney failure followed by transplantation, bilateral knee amputations, and being registered blind. She was admitted with nausea and vomiting for the previous 6 days; the provisional diagnosis was diabetic gastroparesis. Various treatments were tried, including several prokinetic drugs and total parenteral nutrition. The total parenteral nutrition provided most of the patient's nutritional requirements, and, only slight weight loss was observed. Nothing seemed to improve the symptoms of vomiting. An endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, a radiographic examination of the bile and pancreatic ducts, was performed to exclude obstruction. At the same time, having found nothing, a gastrostomy was placed with a jejunal extension. Feeding was established within 3 days. Her weight remained stable after 7 weeks of jejunal feeding. She had started to increase her oral intake of solid foods and fluids. By 8 weeks, she was taking a full oral diet and fluids. Now, 14 weeks after the placement of the gastrostomy tube with the jejunal extension, she is doing well. Her weight remains stable and her oral intake is excellent. Her diabetes is under control. After 22 weeks, the gastrostomy was removed. After this success with jejunal feeding when all other treatments had failed, this treatment could be used to treat future diabetic gastroparesis. Slow introduction of the feed seems to help toleration. ( info) |
5/59. Severe respiratory depression in a patient with gastroparesis while receiving opioids for pain. OBJECTIVE: To increase awareness of the possibility of severe respiratory depression when oral opioids are used in patients with gastrointestinal motility disorders. SETTING: A major county hospital affiliated with a university. PATIENT: A patient with severe pain from diabetic muscle necrosis with a history of gastroparesis. INTERVENTIONS: Attempted pain control with oral and transdermal opioids. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: pain control in our patient was attempted using potent oral opioids on two occasions. However, this patient suffered severe respiratory depression after each attempt. Transdermal delivery of fentanyl eventually provided satisfactory pain relief without side effects. We conclude that patients with gastrointestinal motility disorders may be at high risk for side effects of oral opioids due to altered absorption kinetics. Suggestions are made for alternative strategies for opiate delivery in patients with gastrointestinal motility disorders. ( info) |
6/59. The surgical management of severe gastroparesis in heart/lung transplant recipients. This article describes the use of gastric bypass surgery for severe gastroparesis in two lung transplant recipients. In addition to feeding intolerance, both our patients suffered from severe erosive esophagitis, transfusion-dependent upper GI hemorrhage, and recurrent aspiration pneumonia. They responded poorly to promotility agents and were eventually treated with Roux-en-Y esophagojejunostomy-one patient with subtotal gastrectomy, and one with gastric bypass without distal gastric resection. Both cases were improved by surgery. Early surgical referral may be indicated in the management of lung transplant recipients with severe symptomatic gastroparesis in whom medical management has failed. On the basis of our experience, gastric bypass with esophagojejunostomy is a worthwhile option in lung transplant recipients with severe gastroparesis. ( info) |
7/59. Pseudogastroparesis as a presentation of small-bowel malignancy. Establishing the diagnosis of small-bowel malignancy is sometimes an extremely difficult challenge owing to its non-specific symptoms. The mainstay of treatment is early recognition, diagnosis and surgical resection. The prognosis depends primarily on the degree of spread and stage at presentation. We present two cases with initially obscure presentations of a small-bowel tumour. One was a jejunal adenocarcinoma, but an initial upper gastrointestinal and small-bowel series did not disclose the lesion; the other was a primary ileal lymphoma, first thought to be diabetes mellitus gastroparesis. Therefore, a negative small-bowel series or presentation of a systemic disease-associated intestinal pseudo-obstruction or gastroparesis does not exclude the possibility of a small-bowel malignancy, if the clinical symptoms are not alleviated after prokinetic medications. The clinicians should further pursue the possibility of an obstructing lesion. ( info) |
8/59. Refractory spinal cord injury induced gastroparesis: resolution with erythromycin lactobionate, a case report. erythromycin lactobionate (ERY), a macrolide antibiotic, has been the focus of investigation as a new gastrointestinal prokinetic agent. In individuals who are able-bodied (AB), ERY has shown promise in various forms of gastroparesis (GP). Recent evidence suggests that medications used to stimulate intestinal motility in individuals who are AB have had similar results in those individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Medications that have been used in the past for GP in SCI include metaclopramide, neostigmine, and bethanechol. In this observation, a patient with T-6 paraplegia, who developed GP secondary to acute SCI, is presented. During his hospital stay, the patient was treated with gastric decompression, bowel rest, H2 blockers, intravenous metaclopramide, and eventually required parenteral nutritional support. ERY was started and symptoms abated. At this point, the nasogastric tube was removed and oral feeding was successfully started. This case report is the first to describe a patient with refractory SCI-induced GP who responded to intravenous ERY. Further study in this area is warranted. ( info) |
| The gastrointestinal motility stimulants, cisapride and erythromycin, have been used in the management of diabetic gastroparesis. However, drug interactions may result in prolongation of the electrocardiographic QT interval with the risk of ventricular arrhythmias. These drugs should, therefore, not be used in combination. We report two cases that illustrate inappropriate use of these agents. Moreover, patients with recurrent severe hypoglycemia or renal impairment may be at increased risk from cisapride-related cardiotoxicity. Thus, even as monotherapy, cisapride may pose dangers for high-risk diabetic patients. ( info) |
10/59. Gastrointestinal complications in a patient with eating disorders. eating disorders are frequently observed in young people. They can induce major complications involving several organs, either directly or through protein energy malnutrition. Gastrointestinal problems are the most common and somewhat different in restrictive and bulimic anorexia. Delayed gastric emptying prevails in restrictive anorexia, with slower intestinal transit and atrophy of the smooth muscles of the gastrointestinal tract. In bulimic anorexia, vomiting is the cause of several oesophageal and gastric lesions, from oesophagitis to perforation of the oesophagus or stomach. C.G. is a 16-year old boy who weighs 41.8 kg, is 174 cm tall and has a BMI 13.7 (kg/m2). At 14 he started to suffer from restrictive anorexia, then bulimic anorexia for the last two months. The day before admission, the patient ate a large quantity of "sfoglia-telle" in about 2 hours during a bulimic crisis. After 8 hours, he had spontaneous vomiting, malaise, abdominal tension and slight mental confusion. physical examination showed a tense and tender abdomen with infrequent peristalsis, mental confusion and dehydration. Laboratory evaluation confirmed dehydration (serum albumin 5.7 g/dL); a plain abdomen film showed marked gastrectasia. Instrumental examinations (abdominal CT scan, upper endoscopy) confirmed the diagnosis of gastrectasia with tight pyloric stenosis. ( info) |