Emily had an esophogram with follow through on Mon. She has always had suspected DGE, and has been on reglan and now erthromycin. She has never had an actual emptying study done, so I was wondering how they do those. I know they give a percentage of emptying at certain time frames. The radiologist kind of mumbled to a student throughout her esophogram. She said something about pylorspasms and that Bethanocol sp? would be a better med for her. They had to wait 24 mins exactly for the first trickle if barium to pass out of her tummy, and that was all it was, a trickle. We waited another few minutes, but she didn't empty anymore. I was wondering how that compares to an actual emptying study. What is a normal rate of emptying, say at 15 minutes? I will get the official report from the GI in a few days I am sure. I was just curious in the meantime.

I don't know the answer. But I wonder if that's why she didn't poop a lot? ~sheesh, now I'm thinking about other kid's poops as well~ :P

I don't know the answer. But I wonder if that's why she didn't poop a lot? ~sheesh, now I'm thinking about other kid's poops as well~ :P

LOL!!! I wonder the same thing. I ran that by the GI the other day and he said that kids on neocate sometimes "stool less". What a way to say it. I know that she is still passing little bits of barium tonight, 36 hours after having it. I guess the GI's will have some more info.

what causes them to have delayed emptying? Is it underdeveloped muscles?

Mason didn't poop out the Barium, lol. He was such a comfort feeder back then that he super-sucked the barium, cried when they took it away, then vomited all over me after. ~sigh~

what causes them to have delayed emptying? Is it underdeveloped muscles? It has something to do with it. I am not totally sure. I guess the pyloris isn't coordinated in our case.

Mason didn't poop out the Barium, lol. He was such a comfort feeder back then that he super-sucked the barium, cried when they took it away, then vomited all over me after. ~sigh~

Well no wonder, if he yacked it all out! Em has never spit up barium. It is pretty constipating, and during the sidmoid today, the doc had to "extract" a big white turd! EEWWWEEWWWW!

For Iain's emptying scan we were told that a "normal" emptying time is 50 to 70% emptied at one hour. Iain was at 24%. At 2.5 hours Iain was at 45%. That is DGE.

They usually look for the first hour straight and then let the kiddo up for 1/2 hour increments to take a peek again. We were told that 2.5 hours is the max they study as it is well known at that time how bad the DGE is and there is no point in continuing. For some a fast emptying scan is a great sign as it means DGE is not so bad. In my experience a long scan means DGE is bad.

For Iain's emptying scan we were told that a "normal" emptying time is 50 to 70% emptied at one hour. Iain was at 24%. At 2.5 hours Iain was at 45%. That is DGE.

They usually look for the first hour straight and then let the kiddo up for 1/2 hour increments to take a peek again. We were told that 2.5 hours is the max they study as it is well known at that time how bad the DGE is and there is no point in continuing. For some a fast emptying scan is a great sign as it means DGE is not so bad. In my experience a long scan means DGE is bad.

I wonder, then, if they will do an official emptying study now. Since this was an esophogram, then we didn't get percentages. I know that the radiologist kept saying wow, because she hadn't emptied any at 20 mins. The tiny trickly came at about 25 mins, but then stopped. That is when she started talking about pyloraspasms. We waited another 10 or so and she didn't empty anymore, so we gave up. That is why she mentioned this other med.

I do not know what they will do as I am not familiar with the test you had done. If it already indicates DGE it could be they will spare her the test and go straight to meds. It sounds like she is bad though, but I can not be sure. You should know soon. Please do let us know the results.


{{{hugs}}}

I was wondering how long "normal" was for the white stuff to still be coming out in the diaper too....but since we suspect DGE with both girls and they both had procedures done Monday morning we can't really help each other....Bryna's diaper is still coming out white tonight too. I was just about to ask this question.

the doc had to "extract" a big white turd



:haha: :puke:

What is an esophagram? Is it similar to an upper gi? First, barrium goes thorough slower than real food. So any test that measures the rate of emptying using only barrium is not completely and reliably accurate. It does however indicate which kids need a gastric emptying scan and which kid don't. It sounds like Emily definitely needs a gastric emptying scan.

To answer Jayden's grandma's question--DGE can be caused by a couple of different things. It can be due to a weakness in muscle contractions, like low muscle tone in the stomach. In this case food moves through really slowly because the muscles arent strong enough to push it through quicker. If this was the reason, it is considered a level of paralysis--gastroparesis is another name for DGE and means paralyzed stomach.

It can be a discoordination in the muscle contractions like in pyloraspasms which I believe can be caused by inflammation. With EGD and other conditions that cause inflammation in the stomach (like bile reflux and peptic ulcers) it can be due to a blockage at the pylorus (the opening at the bottom of the stomach). A peptic ulcer can block the opening partially so that there isnt enough room for food to pass through at a normal rate.

When determining which treatment is best, it is important to know why there is a delay.

Gavin emptied 24 percent of a 5 ounce bottle of neocate after 90 minutes. That is very severe. We were able to deduce that it is due to low tone in his gi tract because an abdominal ultrasound showed that his pylorus was functioning normally and showed the size of the pyloric opening to be normal. There also was no evidence of inflammation in his stomach or small bowel.

Hope this helps!