Effect of a transpyloric tube on gastric emptying and duodenogastric reflux in the dog.

The effect of a transpyloric tube on duodenogastric reflux and on gastric emptying was studied in dogs with either an intact pylorus, a Heineke-Mikulicz pyloroplasty, or an extramucosal circular pylorectomy. In fasting dogs, duodenogastric reflux was 10 times smaller than after feeding a liquid lipid meal. A transpyloric tube increased the reflux rate in fasting, but not in fed dogs, while pylorectomy increased reflux rate and intragastric accumulation of a duodenal marker in fed, but not in fasting dogs. It is concluded, therefore, that in the dog (1) methods to measure duodenogastric reflux should not involve the necessity to position a transpyloric tube and (2) the pylorus and adjacent structures are involved in keeping duodenogastric reflux at a low level.