Pattern of gastric emptying in functional dyspepsia. An ultrasonographic study.

We assessed the ultrasonographic pattern of gastric emptying in patients with functional dyspepsia, evaluating its relationship with symptoms. Twenty dyspeptic patients, with slight (group A) and severe (group B) symptoms, and 10 controls (group C) underwent ultrasonographic study of gastric emptying by measuring postprandial variations of the antral area at regular intervals. The time at which the antral area returned to the basal value was assumed to be the final emptying time. The final emptying time was significantly longer in both group A (294 +/- 42 min) and group B (340 +/- 36 min) compared to controls (244 +/- 21 min), but no significant difference was observed between them. A significantly (P < 0.05) greater dilation of the antral area was found at 50 min in group B compared to group A patients. A different pattern of antral motor function rather than a delay of gastric emptying correlates with the severity of symtoms in dyspeptic patients.