Electrogastrographic power ratio in humans is not related to changes in antrum-skin distance but to antral motility

It is not clear whether the power increase in electrogastrography (EGG) after meal or water ingestion reflects increases in gastric motility or gastric distension bringing the stomach closer to the electrodes on the abdominal skin surface. We recorded EGG and real-time ultrasonography simultaneously before and after 150-ml water ingestion in 17 healthy volunteer. We calculated gastric power, by spectral analysis of EGG by the maximum entropy method, for 400 s before and after water ingestion, and calculated their ratio (power ratio). We calculated, using sonography: the number of antral contractions before and after water ingestion, the motility index after water ingestion, the distance between the antrum and the abdominal skin surface before and after water ingestion, and the ratio of these distances (distance ratio). The number of contractions was positively correlated with gastric power before water ingestion, and the antrum-skin distance was negatively correlated with gastric power both before and after water ingestion. The motility index after water ingestion was positively correlated with both gastric power after water ingestion (Spearman's rank correlation r = 0.492. P = 0.0498) and the power ratio (r = 0.615. P = 0.0141). There was no correlation between the distance ratio and the power ratio. These results suggest that the power increase in EGG induced by water ingestion does not reflect the approach of the antrum to the abdominal surface, but rather, reflects antral motility after water ingestion.