Real-Time Ultrasonographic Evaluation of Canine Gastric Motility in the Postprandial State

Abstract

ABSTRACT. Gastric motility is affected by several pathological conditions which may induce upper gastrointestinal clinical symptoms. The pathogenesis of canine gastric motility disorders is poorly understood because of methodological limitations. This study aimed at establishing a simple method for evaluating postprandial gastric motility in dogs. Gastric motility was ultrasonographically assessed in 7 healthy beagles using a technique previously described in humans. The motility index (MI), an indicator of gastric antral motility, was calculated by measuring the area of the gastric antrum in both a contracted and relaxed phase and by counting the number of contractions. The MI was measured every 30 min for 3 hr after feeding and compared with gastric emptying as assessed by a 13 C-octanoic acid breath test. The MI at 30 min had the lowest variability in the 7 dogs (mean ± SD, 9.77  0.42; coefficient of variance, 4.25%), and a significant correlation was observed with gastric emptying coefficient (R 2 =0.8126, P=0.005) and half-emptying time (R 2 =0.654, P=0.027). When atropine was administered, a significant decrease in the MI at 30 min was observed compared with the control (9.77  0.42 vs. 5.19  0.22, P=0.0003). In conclusion, evaluation of the MI at 30 min is suitable for assessing gastric motility and enables us to assess gastric motility simply in a short time. By using this method, further studies for the pathogenesis of canine gastric motility disorders are warranted.KEY WORDS: 13 C-octanoic acid breath test, canine, gastric motility, motility index, ultrasonography.J. Vet. Med. Sci. 73(9): 1133-1138, 2011 Gastric motility disorders are caused secondary by several diseases or drug administration and possibly related with the pathogenesis of upper gastrointestinal clinical symptoms such as anorexia, vomiting, abdominal pain, and emesis. Several methods for evaluating gastric motility in both humans and dogs have been described [25,29]. Gastric motor activity has 2 characteristic phases: fasting and the postprandial phase. Many of the previous studies have focused on the postprandial phase. Postprandial gastric motility is assessed either by quantifying gastric emptying time and/or gastric antral motility or by detecting the electrical excitement caused by gastric movement. Gastric emptying can be evaluated using scintigraphy [1,14], a 13 Coctanoic acid breath test [8,31], or radiopaque markers [18,27], whereas gastric antral motility is examined using force transducers [13] or abdominal ultrasonography [5,7,9,19].Of these methods, scintigraphy is considered the gold standard for evaluating gastric emptying in both humans and dogs [22,29]. However, it requires a specialized facility and exposure to radiation. The 13 C-octanoic acid breath test is an indirect method of assessing gastric emptying using a non-radioisotope-labeled substrate. The test involves monitoring the rate of 13 CO 2 in expired air following ingestion of a test meal mixed with 13 C-octanoic acid. The 13 C-octanoic acid breath test has ...

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