The Effect of Isoperistaltic Jejunal Interposition Upon Gastric Emptying

Ten patients with severe postgastrectomy-postvagotomy symptoms, all of whom had the features of vasomotor dumping, underwent gastric emptying studies, using a 300 milliliter meal of 15 per cent dextrose labeled with 99mTc-sulphur colloid. Studies were repeated two to 11 months following remedial operative treatment, using a 12.5 to 15.0 centimeter isoperistaltic jejunal interposition. Preoperatively, all patients had rapid gastric emptying with a typical biphasic pattern. Following isoperistaltic interposition, the rate of gastric emptying was similar to that found in control patients. Gastric emptying reverted to a more normal pattern but, as in the preoperative studies, was best described by a double exponential function, consisting of slow and fast components. Analysis of these particular functions suggests the manner in which isoperistaltic interposition modified the underlying disorder of gastric motility.