Annals of internal medicine
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Case Reports
Gastric and small intestinal myoelectric dysrhythmia associated with chronic intractable nausea and vomiting.
We describe a patient with symptoms of severe nausea, vomiting, epigastric bloating and pain, and marked weight loss due to a gastrointestinal motility disturbance. Motility abnormalities were characterized by uncoordinated high pressure (as high as 300 mm Hg) contractions and uncoordinated interdigestive motor complexes in the duodenum and small intestine, and tachygastria often associated with tachyarrhythmia in the gastric myoelectric activity recordings. Uncoordinated interdigestive myoelectric complexes again were found in the duodenum and small intestine. ⋯ Thus, the motility abnormality found in the study appears to be responsible for the symptoms described. This is probably a new clinical entity. The importance of manometric and myoelectric study of a gastrointestinal motility for unexplained nausea and vomiting is emphasized.