Background/aims: Gastric emptying after PPG is directly associated with postoperative QOL. Few studies have investigated gastric emptying after a gastrectomy for stomach cancer using carbon-labeled acetic acid breath test.
Methodology: We analyzed gastric emptying in 28 patients who underwent a gastrectomy for gastric carcinoma. Among the patients, 14 underwent pylorus-preserving gastrectomy and 14 underwent distal gastrectomy. We recruited 15 healthy subjects as controls. Gastric emptying was evaluated with the 13C-Acetic acid breath test was performed. Postprandial breath samples were collected at a 15-min interval for 2 hours and at a 30-min interval thereafter. We calculated the ratio of (13)CO2 expired per hour and determined the time required to reach peak (13)CO2 expiration level.
Results: The time required to reach peak (13)C02 expiration level were 1.78 hours for the patients who underwent pylorus-preserving gastrectomy, 1.19 hours for the control group and 0.70 hours for the patients who underwent distal gastrectomy.
Conclusions: Our 13C-Acetic acid breath test following an intake of solid foods showed that gastric retention can be preserved after a pylorus-preserving gastrectomy.