Gastroparesis

 

Gastroparesis is a condition that affects the normal spontaneous movement of the muscles (motility) in your stomach. Ordinarily, strong muscular contractions move food through your digestive tract, but if you have gastroparesis, your stomach's motility is slowed down or doesn't work at all. This prevents your stomach from emptying properly.

Symptoms

Gastroparesis can interfere with normal digestion. Symptoms include:

  • Nausea
  • Decreased appetite
  • Vomiting undigested food
  • Abdominal pain
  • Problems with blood sugar levels
  • Acid reflux
  • Weight loss and malnutrition

Females are more likely to develop gastroparesis.

Patients usually have surgery after other gastroparesis treatments have failed, such as eating small meals, medicines, stents, dilation of the duodenum and Botox injections of the pylorus.

Causes

The cause of gastroparesis is usually unknown, but sometimes it's a complication of diabetes or prior surgery on the stomach. Certain medications, such as opioid pain relievers, antidepressants, blood pressure and allergy medications, can cause similar symptoms or make gastroparesis worse.

Diagnosis

MetroHealth can diagnose gastroparesis in several different ways:

  • Gastric Emptying Scintigraphy: Patients eat a small amount of food that contains a small amount of traceable material. A scanner detects the movement of the material to see how fast your stomach empties food over a 4-hour time period
  • Breath test: Patients eat or drink a solid or liquid food that contains a substance that your body absorbs. Eventually, the substance can be detected in your breath. Samples of your breath are collected over a few hours and providers collect samples of their breath over several hours to see how fast your stomach empties food.
  • Upper endoscopy: A flexible, narrow tube with a camera on it is passed down the patient’s esophagus, stomach and beginning of the small intestine to diagnose gastroparesis
  • Ultrasound: A scan can produce images to rule out other causes, like kidney or gallbladder issues

Why Choose MetroHealth for Treatment

Kevin El-Hayek, MD, is one of a few surgeons in Northeast Ohio who can perform the minimally invasive per-oral pyloromyotomy (POP) procedure for gastroparesis on adults and children. The POP procedure has quickly become a first-time treatment for gastroparesis.

During a per-oral pyloromyotomy (POP) procedure, the surgeon uses a flexible endoscope to create a small tunnel under the pyloric muscle. The pyloric muscle is then divided using an endoscopic knife. There are no external incisions.

Patients typically go home the same day and resume normal activities. Diet is slowly advanced over the following few weeks. Three months after surgery, 70% of patients have normal swallowing studies. 90% of patients report having some level of improvement.

To learn if MetroHealth can help you with your gastroparesis treatment, call 216-778-8917. 

 

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