Gastric myoelectrical activity in neonates of different gestational ages by means of electrogastrography

Abstract

PURPOSE: to describe the patterns of the gastric myoelectrical activity, pre-and postprandially, in clinically stable neonates of different gestational ages, during their first two weeks of life by means of Electrogastrography. PATIENTS AND METHODS:Electrogastrography was recorded in forty-five clinically stable neonates of different gestational ages (group I: 15 neonates of > 37 weeks, group II: 15 premature neonates of 32-37 weeks; Group III: 15 premature neonates of 28-31 weeks) receiving intermittent enteral feedings during their first two weeks of life. Electrogastrography recordings were performed for 1 hour pre-and postprandially. The Electrogastrography signal was recorded using the portable MicroDigitrapper Electrogastrography recording device and after motion artifacts were deleted, the remaining Electrogastrography data were submitted to quantitative analysis based on the "Running Spectrum Analysis". RESULTS:The percentages of normogastria, pre-and postprandially were greater than the percentages of gastric dysrythmias in all three studied groups. Furthermore, all neonates had the mean values of the Electrogastrography dominant frequency predominantly within the normogastria range, in both periods analyzed. There were no significant differences in the relative change of the Electrogastrography dominant power among the groups.CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that the Electrogastrography patterns are similar between premature and full term neonates during the pre-and postprandial periods. The results of this study also indicate that the gastric myoelectrical activity in premature and full term neonates is immature, as compared to that described for older neonates, children and adults. DESCRIPTORS: Electrogastrography. Gastric myoelectrical activity. Neonates. Different gestational ages. Preand postprandial periods. INTRODUCTIONThe need to provide the newborn with adequate nutrition in order to ensure survival has long been recognized 1 . The use of enteral nutrition in very-low-birth-weight neonates, however, is associated with a significant morbidity related to immaturity of gastrointestinal motor function 2,3 . A renewed interest in using early enteral nutrition in neonates has developed based on the morbidity associated with the use of parenteral nutrition and its expense. In order to achieve successful enteral feedings in premature and full term neonates, investigators have tried to better understand the developmental patterns of gastrointestinal motor activity 4-21 . Despite several gastrointestinal motility studies have been made in adults during the last decades, the knowledge derived from systematic scientific observation in this area in neonates remains scarce. To a large extent, this is due to the fact that invasive and unpleasant investigations are required to study the contractile activity of the gastrointestinal tract via the lumen. In neonates and in children, such invasive investigations are less acceptable to patients and consequently put severe limitations on systematic studies. 41 ...

Tachygastria in Preterm Infants

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Frequency-specific electrogastrography as a non-invasive tool to measure gastrointestinal maturity in preterm infants

“…In this study, we have implemented a unique and novel method for quantifying the % time spent in each GR frequency band during each sub-feeding period using continuous wavelet transform, CWT. Previous literature has suggested the use of running spectral analysis methods, such as short-term Fourier transform (FT) analysis 15,[31][32][33][34] . CWT is useful in analyzing the non-stationary signal and also allows to filter out stationary and non-stationary signals 35,36 .…”

“…al. reported no significant difference in % normogastria between term and preterm neonates in the pre-and post-feed periods 15 . Ortigoza et.…”

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