[Gastric emptying in elderly patients with cerebral vascular diseases and the effect of trimebutine].

The authors investigated gastric emptying in 18 elderly patients with cerebral vascular diseases using the acetaminophen method. Subjects were divided into 2 groups according to their levels of daily activity. One group consisted of 10 comatose patients (71-92 years old), the other consisted of 8 patients (74-95 years old) who could walk by themselves. We also investigated gastric emptying in 6 comatose patients (38-83 years old) because of other diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and in 11 elder controls (75-95 years old). In elderly controls, the acetaminophen concentration at 45 minutes was 9.08 +/- 1.71 micrograms/ml. In comatose patients due to cerebral vascular diseases, the concentration was 3.89 +/- 1.60 micrograms/ml, which showed significantly delayed gastric emptying (p < 0.05). In patients with cerebral vascular diseases who could walk, the concentration was 6.51 +/- 0.99 micrograms/ml. In comatose patients by another diseases, the concentration was 5.82 +/- 1.13 micrograms/ml. We suspected that delayed gastric emptying is related to the comatose state. Trimebutine significantly (p < 0.01) improved gastric emptying in comatose patients with cerebral vascular diseases.