Jessica Tonani, Research Advisor
Jessica received her Master’s degree in immunology and her 
Bachelor’s in microbiology and was a Howard Hughes Fellow. She is the founder of the “GI Motility Research Forum” website and co-founder of Delphi Bio.
To read previous Research Milestones and publications go to http://www.gimotilityresearch.org/ .
To have your research article featured send to info@gimotilityresearch.org
Research Milestone of the Month:
Two-channel gastric pacing in patients with diabetic gastroparesis.
Abstract
Background Our primary goals were to investigate the effects of two-channel gastric pacing on gastric myoelectrical activity, and energy consumption with the secondary intent to monitor gastric emptying and symptoms in patients with severe diabetic gastroparesis. Methods Four pairs of temporary pacing wires were inserted on the serosa of the stomach at the time of laparotomy to place the Enterra™ System in 19 patients with severe gastroparesis not responding to standard medical therapies. Two of the pairs were for electrical stimulation and the other two for recording. Five days after surgery the optimal pacing parameters for the entrainment of gastric slow waves in each patient were identified by serosal recordings. Two-channel gastric pacing was then initiated for 6 weeks using a newly developed external multi-channel pulse generator. Electrogastrogram (EGG), Total Symptom Score (TSS), and a 4-h gastric emptying test were assessed at baseline and after 6 weeks of active gastric pacing. Enterra™ device was turned OFF during the duration of this study. Key Results Two-channel gastric pacing at 1.1 times the intrinsic frequency entrained gastric slow waves and normalized gastric dysrhythmia. After 6 weeks of gastric pacing, tachygastria was decreased from 15 ± 3 to 5 ±1% in the fasting state and from 10 ± 2 to 5 ± 1% postprandially (P<0.05), mean TSS was reduced from 21.3 ± 1.1 to 7.0 ± 1.5 (P<0.05) and mean 4-h gastric retention improved from 42 to 28% (P=0.05). Conclusions & Inferences Two-channel gastric pacing is a novel treatment approach which is able to normalize and enhance gastric slow wave activity as well as accelerate gastric emptying in patients with diabetic gastroparesis with a goal safety profile
