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CC BY 4.0 · Ultrasound Int Open 2022; 08(01): E15-E21
DOI: 10.1055/a-1925-1893
Original Article

Assessment of Small Bowel Motility and SMA Blood Flow Studied with Transabdominal Ultrasound

Kim Nylund
1   Department of Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
2   Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
,
Andreas Jessen Gjengstø
1   Department of Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
,
Hilde Løland von Volkmann
1   Department of Medicine, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
,
Odd Helge Gilja
3   National Center of Ultrasound in Gastroenterology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway
2   Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
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Abstract

Purpose Gastrointestinal ultrasound (GIUS) is a noninvasive imaging technique that may be used to study physiological changes in the small bowel. The aim of the study was to investigate the feasibility of measuring blood flow (BF) in the superior mesenteric artery (SMA) and regional motility in the small bowel with GIUS before and after a test meal and to compare ultrasound parameters to demographic factors such as age, sex, height, weight, and smoking habits.

Materials and Methods 122 healthy volunteers aged 20 to 80 were examined after an overnight fast. Small bowel motility was registered in the upper left and lower right quadrants (ULQ and LRQ) with TUS and BF in the SMA with pulsed wave Doppler. The first 23 volunteers also received a 300 Kcal test meal and were re-examined 30 min postprandial.

Results The feasibility of measuring BF was 97% in fasting patients while motility could be detected in 52% and 62% in the ULQ and LRQ, respectively. Females had a lower resistive index (RI) and a higher mean velocity than males, while the overall BF correlated with height. The RI had a negative correlation with age. Healthy volunteers with motility in the ileum were on average younger than those without motility. After the test meal, motility could be detected in the ULQ and LRQ in 95% and 90%, respectively, and the mean number of contractions in the ULQ increased significantly. As expected, there was a clear increase in all BF-parameters postprandially.

Conclusion Regional motility in the small bowel was easier to detect after a test meal. There were some associations between demographic parameters and ultrasound parameters but overall the effects were relatively small.

Key words

small bowel - blood flow - motility, THEMES - gastrointestinal ultrasound - healthy volunteers


Publication History

Received: 13 January 2022

Accepted after revision: 28 May 2022

Article published online:
23 September 2022

© 2022. The Author(s). This is an open access article published by Thieme under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, permitting unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction so long as the original work is properly cited. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Georg Thieme Verlag KG
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