Effect of intestinal electrical stimulation on small transit: Experiment with healthy volunteers

Objective: To investigate the effect of intestinal electrical stimulation (IES) on small bowel transit. Methods: Twelve healthy volunteers, 6 males and 6 females, aged 22-23, underwent IES. A nasal-gastric tube with 2 ring electrodes on the tip was incubated into the duodenum via endoscope. 100 ml 1m Ci⁹⁹Tc^m mixed non-absorbable liquid was infused via the tube. During the course continuous real IES was conducted or the electrodes were connected to the stimulator but not with the power source (sham IES). Scanning with Y-video-camera was conducted every 10 seconds. The time for the isotope to enter the ileocecum first was measured so as to indicate the small bowel transit. Dyspeptic symptoms were scored by the subjects themselves. Results: (1) The time for the isotopes to enter the ileocecum in real IES session was (28 ± 10)min, significantly lower than that in sham IES session [(39 ± 17)min, P <0.05]. (2) The dyspeptic symptom score during the real IES was 1.5, not significantly different from that before IES (1.0, P>0.05), and the dyspeptic symptom score during the sham IES was 0.5, also not significantly different from that during real IES (P>0.05). Condusion: IES is capable of accelerating small bowel transit with no effect on dyspeptic symptoms, which suggests that IES may be a potential therapeutic method on intestinal motility disorders.