Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 14, Issue 2 81-89, Copyright © 1995 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
Monitoring postprandial size of the proximal stomach by ultrasonography
O. H. Gilja, T. Hausken, S. Odegaard and A. Berstad
Medical Department A, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway.
The purpose of this study was to develop a sonographic method to monitor
postprandial size of the proximal stomach. Twenty-three healthy persons
were scanned in a sitting position with a 3.25 MHz transducer after
ingestion of 500 ml meat soup. The area in a sagittal section and the
maximal diameter in an oblique frontal section were chosen as standard
measurements. The soup emptied from the proximal stomach in a linear manner
(r = 0.99) and at a rate of 2.0 +/- 1.3%/min. Intraobserver error of the
scans (mean +/- SD) was 5.6% +/- 2.3% and 9.5% +/- 4.5% for sagittal area
and frontal diameter, respectively, and the corresponding interobserver
error was 5.3% +/- 4.0% and 8.3% +/- 5.3%, respectively. This sonographic
method demonstrated a moderate day-to-day variation, had low intra- and
interobserver error, and allowed estimation of initial emptying fractions
of the proximal stomach.
