Simultaneous estimation of liquid and solid gastric emptying using radiolabelled egg and water in supine normal subjects

To develop an additional method for the measurement of gastric emptying in supine subjects, 10 normal subjects were given a test meal containing ⁹⁹Tc-labelled scrambled egg as the "solid" phase marker and ¹¹¹In in tapwater as the marker for the "liquid" phase. The mean time for emptying 50% of the "solid" phase (t _{1 2}) was 85 min and 29 min for the "liquid" phase. Three individuals were restudied with a mean difference between the two determinations of 10.8% for the "solid" phase and 6.5% for the "liquid" phase. Twenty-six additional studies attempted have been successfully completed in symptomatic patients with advanced cancer. This method provides a simple and reproducible procedure for the determination of gastric emptying that yields results similar to those reported for other test meals and can be used in debilitated patients.