Coordination of cecal motility during cecal evacuation.

Turkeys were surgically prepared with two strain gauge transducers on each cecum to detect both major and minor contractions at each implant site and to allow appraisal of coordination of contractions within and between ceca at the time of cecal evacuation and at dawn. There were significantly more of both types of contractions and significantly more major than minor contractions immediately before than after evacuation. At dawn the frequency of minor contractions was significantly greater than that of major contractions and there were significantly more contractions immediately after dawn than before dawn. Contractile activity was more often not coordinated than coordinated at anytime both within and between the ceca. When there was coordination within each cecum before evacuation, it was more frequently orad oriented than aborad. Near dawn the occurrence of coordinated contractions within each cecum was not significantly different from the occurrence of no coordination and the latter occurred significantly more frequently than did coordination between the two ceca.