[Effect of site and width of stomach tube after esophageal resection on gastric emptying].

The gastric emptying of a mixed solid-liquid meal labeled with 99 mTc was evaluated in 14 healthy volunteers and in 14 subjects after esophageal replacement. The stomach had been placed seven times in the posterior mediastinum and seven times behind the sternum. The rate of emptying was measured by an anterior gamma-camera technique. Furthermore, the width of the esophageal substitutes was determined by CT-scans. The intrathoracic stomach displayed a prolonged emptying rate, independent of its location in the anterior or posterior mediastinum. Interestingly the width of the stomach influenced the discharge of the test-meal, whereby the more narrow the substitute the faster the emptying rate.