Electrogastrography versus gastric emptying scintigraphy in children with symptoms suggestive of gastric motility disorders

Background: Cutaneous electrogastrography is a method of recording gastric electrical activity. Abnormalities of the electrogastrogram have been described in a variety of disorders. The purpose of the study was to correlate the electrogastrograms of children with vomiting and dyspepsia with the results of radionucleotide gastric emptying studies. Methods: Nine patients (5-16 years old) with gastrointestinal symptoms of vomiting and/or abdominal pain were studied. The electrogastrogram was recorded using surface electrodes for 30 minutes in the fasting state and for 120 minutes after a radioisotope-labeled solid meal. Gastric emptying was simultaneously monitored for 120 minutes. The postprandial change in dominant power (power ratio: postprandial/fasting dominant power), percentages of normal slow wave, bradygastria, and tachygastria were recorded and analyzed. Results: The patients were divided into two groups. The first group (four patients; five studies) had normal gastric emptying, whereas the second group (five patients) had delayed emptying (half-life, >90 minutes). The median power ratio in the first group was 1.69 and in the second group was 2.78; the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.90). The median difference in slow wave percentages in the fasting and postprandial periods was 0.99 in the first group and 0.73 in the second group; again, the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.27). Conclusions: Although it is a method of assessing gastric myoelectrical activity and gastric motility disorders, electrogastrogram does not correlate with nuclear scintigraphic gastric emptying studies in children.