The role of ambulatory 24-hour esophageal manometry in clinical practice

Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2020 Oct;32(10):e13861. doi: 10.1111/nmo.13861. Epub 2020 May 11.

Abstract

High-resolution manometry revolutionized the assessment of esophageal motility disorders and upgraded the classification through the Chicago Classification. A known disadvantage of standard HRM, however, is the inability to record esophageal motility function for an extended time interval; therefore, it represents only a more snapshot view of esophageal motor function. In contrast, ambulatory esophageal manometry measures esophageal motility over a prolonged period and detects motor activity during the entire circadian cycle. Furthermore, ambulatory manometry has the ability to measure temporal correlations between symptoms and motor events. This article aimed to review the clinical implications of ambulatory esophageal manometry for various symptoms, covering literature on the manometry catheter, interpretation of findings, and relevance in clinical practice specific to the evaluation of non-cardiac chest pain, chronic cough, and rumination syndrome.

Keywords: ambulatory esophageal manometry; non-cardiac chest pain; reflux-cough association; rumination syndrome.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Chest Pain / diagnosis*
  • Chest Pain / physiopathology
  • Cough / diagnosis*
  • Cough / physiopathology
  • Esophageal Motility Disorders / diagnosis
  • Esophageal Motility Disorders / physiopathology
  • Esophagus / physiology*
  • Gastroesophageal Reflux / diagnosis
  • Gastroesophageal Reflux / physiopathology
  • Humans
  • Manometry / methods*
  • Monitoring, Ambulatory / methods*
  • Rumination Syndrome / diagnosis*
  • Rumination Syndrome / physiopathology