Gastroduodenal motility

During the past year there were significant developments in the area of gastroduodenal motility-in basic physiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and therapy. Some represented a major breakthrough; most were incremental. Evidence continues to accumulate to support an important role for the stomach in the regulation of food intake, and the physiologic mechanisms involved continue to be revealed. Although there were no dramatic developments in the area of diagnostic methodology, several studies sought to refine or to extend the use of currently available techniques. Gastric motor activity and that of the proximal stomach continue to attract attention in dyspepsia and gastroesophageal reflux disease, and the range of disorders that may disrupt the motor function of the stomach continues to extend. On the therapeutic front, advances were largely in refining the indications and the uses of available therapies, rather than in the development of novel agents.