Evaluation of residual stomach motility after proximal gastrectomy for gastric cancer by electrogastrography.

The relationship between the motility and the size of the residual stomach after proximal gastrectomy was evaluated using electrogastrography (EGG). Based on fast Fourier transformation, recorded slow waves could be analyzed to obtain the following parameters: dominant frequency (DF), percentage normal frequency (% 3 cycles per minute [cpm]), and power ratio (PR). EGG parameters, the length of the greater curvature of the residual stomach (LGC), were recorded in 18 gastrectomized patients. Compared to 12 healthy controls, the gastrectomized patients had abdominal EGG parameters including lower %3cpm (43 +/- 21% vs 83 +/- 7%; P < 0.05), DF (2.2 +/- 0.4 vs 3.0 +/- 0.2 cpm; P < 0.05), and PR (1.5 +/- 0.8 vs 2.5+/- 0.8; P < 0.05). In relation to LGC and parameters, there was no difference between the patients whose LGC was > 20 cm and controls in PR (2.3+/- 0.9 vs 2.5+/- 0.8; n.s.). In conclusion, the motility of the residual stomach would be equal to that of the nonresected stomach as if the volume of the residual stomach was more than half.