Proximal and distal gastric retention patterns in gastroparesis and the impact of gastric per-oral endoscopic myotomy: A retrospective analysis using gastric emptying scintigraphy

Gastroparesis is a debilitating disease of insufficient gastric emptying and visceral hypersensitivity characterized by nausea, vomiting, early satiety, and bloating. Gastric emptying scintigraphy (GES), in combination with typical symptoms and normal esophagogastroduodenoscopy findings, is used to diagnose the disease. Gastric per-oral endoscopic pyloromyotomy (G-POEM) has emerged as a novel technique for treating gastroparesis, with up to an 80% success rate. This procedure involves myotomy of the distal stomach. We hypothesize that responders to this therapy are characterized by more distal dysmotility than nonre-sponders, as defined by GES retention patterns. Methods: We used regional gastric emptying measurements from diagnostic GES to determine the proximal or distal predominance of disease for each patient. We then compared treatment response and symptoms in each patient to total gastric half-emptying time (T1/2), proximal gastric T1/2, and a ratio comparing the 2 values. Results: In total, 47 patients underwent G-POEM during the study period. A significant difference (P <, 0.01) was found in proximal-to-total T1/2 ratio between responders and nonresponders. A significant difference between pre- and postprocedural proximalto-total T1/2 ratios was identified for each patient. No correlations were identified between motility patterns and symptoms or in motility patterns among the different etiologies of the disease. Conclusion: Proximal-to-total T1/2 ratio may represent an important patient selection factor for G-POEM versus other treatment modalities going forward. Local retention patterns in GES may not inform the symptom profile in gastroparesis.