Gastroparesis (GP also called delayed gastric emptying) is a medical condition consisting of a paresis (partial paralysis) of the stomach, resulting in food remaining in the stomach for an abnormally long time. Normally, the stomach contracts to move food down into the small intestine for additional digestion. The vagus nerve controls these contractions. Gastroparesis may occur when the vagus nerve is damaged and the muscles of the stomach and intestines do not properly function. Food then moves slowly or stops moving through the digestive tract.
Video Gastroparesis
Signs and symptoms
The most common symptoms of gastroparesis are the following:
- Chronic nausea (93%)
- Vomiting (especially of undigested food) (68-84%)
- Abdominal pain (46-90%)
- A feeling of fullness after eating just a few bites (60-86%)
Other symptoms include the following:
- Abdominal bloating
- Body aches (myalgia)
- Erratic blood glucose levels
- Gastroesophageal reflux (GERD)
- Heartburn
- Lack of appetite
- Morning nausea
- Muscle weakness
- Night sweats
- Palpitations
- Spasms of the stomach wall
- Constipation or infrequent bowel movements
- Weight loss, malnutrition
Morning nausea may also indicate gastroparesis. Vomiting may not occur in all cases, as sufferers may adjust their diets to include only small amounts of food.
Complications
Primary complications of gastroparesis include:
- Fluctuations in blood glucose due to unpredictable digestion times (in diabetic patients)
- General malnutrition due to the symptoms of the disease (which frequently include vomiting and reduced appetite) as well as the dietary changes necessary to manage it. This is especially true for vitamin deficiencies such as scurvy because of inability to tolerate fresh fruits.
- Severe fatigue and weight loss due to calorie deficit
- Intestinal obstruction due to the formation of bezoars (solid masses of undigested food)
- Bacterial infection due to overgrowth in undigested food
Maps Gastroparesis
Causes
Transient gastroparesis may arise in acute illness of any kind, as a consequence of certain cancer treatments or other drugs which affect digestive action, or due to abnormal eating patterns.
It is frequently caused by autonomic neuropathy. This may occur in people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. In fact, diabetes mellitus has been named as the most common cause of gastroparesis, as high levels of blood glucose may effect chemical changes in the nerves. The vagus nerve becomes damaged by years of high blood glucose or insufficient transport of glucose into cells resulting in gastroparesis. Gastroparesis has also been associated with connective tissue diseases such as scleroderma and Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, and neurological conditions such as Parkinson's disease. It may also occur as part of a mitochondrial disease. Opioids and anticholinergic medications can cause medication-induced gastroparesis.
Chronic gastroparesis can be caused by other types of damage to the vagus nerve, such as abdominal surgery. Heavy cigarette smoking is also a plausible cause since smoking causes damage to the stomach lining.
Idiopathic gastroparesis (gastroparesis with no known cause) accounts for a third of all chronic cases; it is thought that many of these cases are due to an autoimmune response triggered by an acute viral infection. Gastroenteritis, mononucleosis, and other ailments have been anecdotally linked to the onset of the condition, but no systematic study has proven a link.
Gastroparesis sufferers are disproportionately female. One possible explanation for this finding is that women have an inherently slower stomach emptying time than men. A hormonal link has been suggested, as gastroparesis symptoms tend to worsen the week before menstruation when progesterone levels are highest. Neither theory has been proven definitively.
Gastroparesis can also be connected to hypochlorhydria and be caused by chloride, sodium and/or zinc deficiency, as these minerals are needed for the stomach to produce adequate levels of gastric acid (HCl) in order to properly empty itself of a meal.
Diagnosis
Gastroparesis can be diagnosed with tests such as x-rays, manometry, and gastric emptying scans. The clinical definition for gastroparesis is based solely on the emptying time of the stomach (and not on other symptoms), and severity of symptoms does not necessarily correlate with the severity of gastroparesis. Therefore, some patients may have marked gastroparesis with few, if any, serious complications.
Prevalence
Postinfectious gastroparesis, which constitutes the majority of idiopathic gastroparesis cases, affects up to 4% of the American population. Women in their 20s and 30s seem to be susceptible. One study of 146 American gastroparesis patients found the mean age of patients was 34 years with 82% affected being women, while another study found the patients were young or middle aged and up to 90% were women.
Prognosis
Most cases of postinfectious gastroparesis are self-limiting, with recovery within 12 months of initial symptoms but some cases last well over 2 years. The condition affects people of all ages, but in children the duration tends to be shorter and the disease course milder. In adolescents and adults, the duration of clinical symptoms can be prolonged.
Treatment
In cases of postinfectious gastroparesis, patients have symptoms and go undiagnosed for an average of 3 weeks to 6 months before their illness is identified correctly and treatment begins. Current treatment is limited and includes nutritional modifications, medications to stimulate gastric emptying, drugs that reduce vomiting, and rarely surgical approaches.
Treatment includes dietary changes (low fiber diets) and, in some cases, restrictions on fat and/or solids. Eating smaller meals, spaced two to three hours apart has proved helpful. Avoiding foods that cause the individual problems, such as pain in the abdomen, or constipation, such as rice or beef, will help avoid symptoms.
Metoclopramide, a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist, increases contractility and resting tone within the GI tract to improve gastric emptying. In addition, dopamine antagonist action in the central nervous system prevents nausea and vomiting. Similarly, the dopamine receptor antagonist domperidone is also used to treat gastroparesis. Erythromycin is known to improve emptying of the stomach but its effects are temporary due to tachyphylaxis and wane after a few weeks of consistent use.
Sildenafil citrate, which increases blood flow to the genital area in men, is being used by some practitioners to stimulate the gastrointestinal tract in cases of diabetic gastroparesis.
The antidepressant mirtazapine has proven effective in the treatment of gastroparesis unresponsive to conventional treatment. This is due to its antiemetic and appetite stimulant properties. Mirtazapine acts on the same serotonin receptor (5-HT3) as does the popular anti-emetic ondansetron.
Camicinal is a motilin agonist for the treatment of gastroparesis.
In specific cases where treatment of chronic nausea and vomiting proves resistant to drugs, implantable gastric stimulation may be utilized. A medical device is implanted that applies neurostimulation to the muscles of the lower stomach to reduce the symptoms. This is only done in refractory cases that have failed all medical management (usually at least 2 years of treatment). Medically refractory gastroparesis may also be treated with a pyloromyotomy, which widens the gastric outlet by cutting the circular pylorus muscle. This can be done laparoscopically or endoscopically.
Vertical sleeve gastrectomy, a procedure in which a part or all of the affected portion of the stomach is removed, has been shown to have some success in the treatment of gastroparesis in obese patients, even curing it in some instances. Further studies have been recommended due to the limited sample size of previous studies.
Etymology
The etymology of the term is (gastro- from Ancient Greek ?????? gaster, "stomach" and ??????? -paresis, "partial paralysis").
References
External links
- Overview from NIDDK National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases at NIH
- Overview at Mayo Clinic
- Overview at University of Chicago Hospitals
- Camilleri, Michael; Parkman, Henry P; Shafi, Mehnaz A; Abell, Thomas L; Gerson, Lauren; American College of Gastroenterology (2012). "Clinical Guideline: Management of Gastroparesis". The American Journal of Gastroenterology. 108 (1): 18-37; quiz 38. doi:10.1038/ajg.2012.373. PMC 3722580 . PMID 23147521.
- Parkman, H. P; Fass, R; Foxx-Orenstein, A. E (2010). "Treatment of patients with diabetic gastroparesis". Gastroenterology & hepatology. 6 (6): 1-16. PMC 2920593 . PMID 20733935.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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