FAQ ABOUT GASTROPARESIS SURGERY
What is gastroparesis?
Gastroparesis can be characterized as a paralysis of the stomach. Scientists believe this to be the result of nerve damage.
What are the symptoms?
When the stomach fails to empty its contents into the intestines, feelings of fullness and abdominal pain, even after a small meal, can occur. In more severe cases of gastroparesis, patients may vomit up to 6 or 7 times a day.
What are the complications?
Inability to maintain a normal diet can lead to fatigue and extreme weight loss. In some instance, dehydration and malnutrition can result, leading to frequent hospitalizations for intravenous fluids and tube feedings.
How is it diagnosed?
Doctors can confirm their suspicions of gastroparesis with a gastric emptying scan. This is a non-invasive radiological test that examines the stomach’s ability to deliver food to the intestines.
Who is most susceptible to gastroparesis?
Diabetics are the largest single group to suffer from this disease. Just as diabetics can have decreased sensation in their feet fromnerve damage, the high blood sugar associated with diabetes can lead to stomach nerve damage decreasing its ability to empty properly.
The other major group of sufferers are those with idiopathic gastroparesis. Idiopathic is a medical term that is used when the cause of a disease is unknown. What is known about idiopathic gastroparesis is that is that it commonly occurs after a gastrointestinal viral illness. The body’s response to the virus is thought to cause stomach nerve damage. Women are most often affected.
How common is gastroparesis?
Although there are no exact figures, up to 25% of America’s 17 million diabetics can experience symptoms associated with gastroparesis. The number of those with the idiopathic form of gastroparesis is not known. Further, Parkinson’s disease, amyloidosis and scleroderma patients may als be affected.
What are the current treatments?
The first step is to make dietary modifications, such as eating frequent small meals of low fiber foods. Maintaining good blood sugar control for diabetics and discontinuing certain medications can help. For those who fail these changes, medications can be tried. The problem is that up to 75% of patients are intolerant or unresponsive to medications.
Are there any new treatments?
In March 2000, the FDA approved gastric electrical stimulation, also known as Enterra Therapy™, to be used for those gastroparesis patients who have failed a trial of medications. The device looks like a pacemaker with a stimulator and two leads. The leads are implanted into the stomach where they deliver a low pulse.
Implantation is done by a minimally invasive or laparoscopic surgery that takes about an hour. Most patients leave the hospital the next morning with minimal scars or discomfort.
What are the results?
In an international multi-center clinical trial, 80% of patients experienced a decreased frequency of vomiting. In another study, 78% of patients, who had formerly been dependent on a feeding tube, requested their tube to be removed 6 months after their implant.
