Background/aims: Billroth-I and Roux-en-Y procedures have been applied generally as reconstruction techniques after distal gastrectomy. There have been few reports regarding the physiological differences of these two procedures. We compared gastric emptying after Roux-en-Y procedure with the Billroth-I procedure using the 13C-acetate breath test.
Methodology: Eleven patients who underwent distal gastrectomy, using reconstruction procedures of Billroth- I (B-I group: n=7) and Roux-en-Y (R-Y group: n=6), and 4 healthy volunteers (Control group) were studied. After ingestion of 200mL of liquid diet labelled with 100mg 13C-acetate, breath samples were collected every 5-15 minutes for 3 hours. The analysis of 13C-acetate enrichment was measured using infrared spectrometer.
Results: Mean breath-Tmax of B-I group (14.2min) and R-Y group (13.0min) were significantly shorter compared with that of the control group (42.5min). Mean breath-T1/2 of B-I group (76.8min) and R-Y group (80.2min) were significantly shorter compared with that of the control group (133.3min). Mean breath-Cmax of B-I group (60.1min) and R-Y group (59.3min) were significantly higher than that of the control group (27.6min).
Conclusions: 13C-acetate breath test was useful to evaluate gastric emptying. There were no differences in gastric emptying for both Billroth-I and Roux-en-Y reconstruction.