Abstract
This study determines characteristics of gastroduodenal motility in mechanically ventilated, critically ill patients. A multilumen perfused catheter pressure monitoring technique was used. Twelve patients and 12 volunteers were compared. All subjects fasted, and patients were mechanically ventilated receiving various medications. Characteristics evaluated include occurrence of activity fronts progressing along the antroduodenum, duration of migrating motor complex, relative contribution of three phases of motor activity to cycle length, propagation characteristics of the activity front, and total number of contractions. The measurements revealed 1.5 antral activity fronts in control and 0 in ventilated patients. Phase 3 activity was comparable in controls and patients in the duodenum. Occurrence of activity fronts demonstrated greater regularity in control. The conclusions are that motility is severely impaired in this group of mechanically ventilated patients. Activity fronts failed to originate in the stomach. The loss of peristaltic activity in the stomach may have important implications for occurrence of microbial overgrowth in mechanically ventilated patients.
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