Ultrasonography and gastric emptying: evaluation in infants with gastroesophageal reflux.

We have applied ultrasonography to the evaluation of gastric emptying in children. Two different populations have been investigated: normal children and children with gastroesophageal reflux. All the patients were less than 6 months of age. The diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux was defined by 24-h pH measurement. The technique, used to measure gastric emptying, is the one described by Bolondi et al. In this research we used the simplified method. All children had been submitted to the examination after 4-h fasting. The standard meal was the usual milk formula, 300 ml/m2 body surface area (BSA). A cross-section area of the gastric antrum was determined before a meal and every 15 min for 2 h. The examination was concluded after two measurements were equal to the basal one. The normal gastric emptying curve was determined by a control group. Patients with gastroesophageal reflux showed three different kind of gastric emptying: (a) normal gastric emptying in 20% of cases, (b) abnormal gastric emptying in 15% of cases, and (c) intermediate cases in which the plateau curve is abnormal but the end time of gastric emptying is normal. We defined these three kinds of curves as type I or normal, type III or abnormal, and type II or intermediate. The estimate of frequency in patients with gastroesophageal reflux is similar to the reported data of the literature.