Ultrasonic evaluation of gastric clearing in young infants

Abstract
Gastric emptying was determined using ultrasound in young infants. Gastric volume was calculated from anteroposterior, craniocaudal and laterolateral antral diameters. There was a linear decline of the logarithm of a gastric filling index over time in normal subjects. The mean clearing angle in normal subjects was 52° (range 45–59). Examples of significantly different clearing rates could be demonstrated in a variety of clinical conditions. In several subjects gastric emptying rate was not exponential. Ultrasound seems very promising for the study of gastric emptying, especially in young children.