I. PURPOSE
The purpose of this guideline is to assist nuclear medicine practitioners in recommending, performing, interpreting, and reporting the results of gastric-emptying and motility studies in adults.
II. BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND DEFINITIONS
Radionuclide studies of gastric emptying and motility are the most comprehensive and physiologic studies of gastric motor function available. The studies are noninvasive, use a physiologic meal (solids with or without liquids), and are quantitative. Serial testing can determine the effectiveness of therapy. The Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM) and the American Neurogastroenterological and Motility Society have recently agreed on a standard meal and a standard imaging protocol for measurement of gastric emptying. The recommended meal is intended to simplify and standardize the methodology and reference values based on a large, multiinstitutional investigation of 123 healthy subjects. This standardization will alleviate the problem of comparing results between institutions that did not use the same meal or imaging protocol. The detailed recommendations for the recommended meal and the imaging protocol can be found in the paper by Abell et al. listed in the bibliography of this guideline.
III. PROCEDURES
A. Patient Preparation
The following summarizes the key recommendations from the recent consensus guideline (a sample patient instruction sheet is included in the paper by Abell et al.).
The patient should take nothing by mouth for a minimum of 4 h before initiation of the study. It is preferable for the patient to take nothing by mouth starting at midnight and then to be given the radiolabeled meal in the morning.
The patient should be advised of the logistical demands of the procedure (e.g., the meal to be used, the time required for eating the meal [<10 min] and for imaging, the number of images required, and what the patient is allowed to do between images).
Instructions for diabetic patients:
Insulin-dependent diabetic patients should bring their glucose monitors and insulin with …
