Ultrasonography of Pyloric Motility and Gastric Emptying

Abstract

Bateman et al. (1977) measured the rate of gastric contractions by means of ultrasound pulse-echo scanning. As the procedure was non-invasive, nonionizing and non-traumatic, it had certain advantages over other modes of examination. After an overnight fast normal subjects seated in the upright position imbibed 500 ml orange cordial warmed to 37 °C. Using a standard, commercially available B-scanner with a 1.5-MHz probe, the fluid in the stomach presented as an echo-free, transonic region. A quantitative display of the movement of the anterior and posterior walls of the “antrum” could be obtained in T-M (time motion) mode, and a permanent photographic record could be made. A continuous A-mode record of the wall movements was obtained simultaneously on video tape.