The effect of posture on the gastric emptying of solid meals in normal subjects and patients after vagotomy

Abstract

Abstract The effect of posture on gastric emptying of solid meals has been studied in normal subjects and compared with the effect in patients who had recently had either a truncal vagotomy and pyloroplasty or a highly selective vagotomy. The meal was labelled with 51Cr and emptying monitored with a gamma camera. The stomach of the normal subjects emptied at the same rate whether they were standing up or lying down. Patients tested less than 3 months aflev truncal vagotomy and pyloroplasty and also after highly selective vagotomy had significantly faster (P < 0.01) gastric emptying when standing than when lying down. Afrer trunral vagotomy and pyloroplasty emptying was significantly slower than normal when lying down but normal when standing. After highly selective vagotomy emptying was normal when lying down but significantly faster than normal when standing.