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Assessment of delayed gastric emptying after major hepatectomy using a 13C-acetic acid breath test

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Abstract

Purposes

Delayed gastric emptying (DGE) after hepatectomy affects the quality of life of patients, although the causes and related conditions have not been investigated. This study evaluated the relationship between hepatectomy and DGE by the objective assessment of gastric emptying (GE).

Methods

Nineteen patients who underwent major hepatectomy were prospectively enrolled in the study. Their GE was studied using the 13C-acetic acid breath test before and after hepatectomy. The results of the GE analysis were correlated with the postoperative course after hepatectomy.

Results

Clinically evident DGE, which was defined as the inability to take in an appropriate amount of solid food orally by postoperative day 14, was not found in these patients, but the gastric half-emptying times before and after hepatectomy were 20.2 ± 9.7 and 28.6 ± 12.2 min, respectively (P = 0.01). The GE time was significantly delayed in patients aged ≥41 years, or who underwent right hemihepatectomy.

Conclusions

Gastric emptying was significantly inhibited in patients who underwent major hepatectomy, and aging and a right-sided hemihepatectomy may be related to the development of DGE.

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Abbreviations

DGE:

Delayed gastric emptying

QOL:

Quality of life

GI:

Gastrointestinal

LDLT:

Living donor liver transplantation

GE:

Gastric emptying

POD:

Postoperative day

BMI:

Body mass index

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported in part by a Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research from the Japan Society of the Promotion of Science, Tokyo, Japan.

Conflict of interest

K. Sugimachi and co-authors have no conflict of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery and Science, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8582, Japan

    Keishi Sugimachi, Ken Shirabe, Akinobu Taketomi, Yuji Soejima, Tomonobu Gion & Yoshihiko Maehara

  2. Departments of Medicine and Bioregulatory Sciences, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Noriko Tokunaga, Hirotada Akiho & Kazuhiko Nakamura

  3. Department of Surgery, Steel Memorial Yawata, Kitakyushu, Japan

    Keishi Sugimachi & Hidefumi Higashi

Authors
  1. Keishi Sugimachi
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  2. Ken Shirabe
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  3. Noriko Tokunaga
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  4. Hirotada Akiho
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  5. Akinobu Taketomi
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  6. Yuji Soejima
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  7. Tomonobu Gion
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  8. Kazuhiko Nakamura
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  9. Hidefumi Higashi
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  10. Yoshihiko Maehara
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Correspondence to Keishi Sugimachi.

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Sugimachi, K., Shirabe, K., Tokunaga, N. et al. Assessment of delayed gastric emptying after major hepatectomy using a 13C-acetic acid breath test. Surg Today 42, 1046–1050 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-012-0321-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00595-012-0321-7

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