Low-Resolution Electrogastrogram at Baseline and Response to Temporary Gastric Electrical Stimulation-A Comparison of Cutaneous With Mucosal Recordings

Abstract

Introduction: Gastric electrical stimulation (GES) is a widely accepted therapy for gastroparesis symptoms, but how a brief cutaneous electrogastrogram (EGG) can be used in conjunction with GES has not been well defined. We evaluated the clinical importance of EGG, its correlation with mucosal electrograms (mEGs), gastric emptying tests (GETs), and gastrointestinal symptoms before and after temporary GES (tGES).

Materials and methods: We studied 1345 patients; 991 had complete data. EGG measurements like frequency and amplitude were recorded at baseline and five days post-tGES using short recording periods. A total of 266 participants having additional cutaneous propagation values were separately analyzed. Patients underwent solid GET before and after tGES and self-reported symptoms using standardized traditional patient-reported outcomes (TradPRO) scores. Pearson correlations were assessed at baseline, post-stimulation, and their changes over the follow-up period.

Results: EGG measures correlated with symptoms and GET results. Patients with abnormal baseline cutaneous frequency had higher baseline total symptom scores (p < 0.003). Post-tGES, one-hour gastric emptying was significantly changed (p < 0.0001) and was mainly observed with abnormal baseline cutaneous frequencies (p < 0.0001). Cutaneous frequency significantly increased after tGES (p < 0.0001), correlating positively with TradPRO scores and one-hour gastric emptying. Mucosal and cutaneous measures correlated pre- and post-treatment. Of the 266 patients, 153 changed propagation states between baseline and temporary; changing states from lower at baseline to higher at temporary was more likely than vice versa. Short EGG recording times can demonstrate changes after the bioelectric therapy of GES.

Conclusion: EGG is valuable in the diagnosis of delayed gastric emptying and comparable with mEG. It is less invasive and can identify patients who may require GES. Frequency, amplitude, their ratio (frequency-amplitude ratio), and propagation appear to be reliable measures of EGG. EGG provides cost-effective measurement of electrophysiological properties and significantly correlates with important clinical measures. Shorter EGG recording times may be adequate to see changes from bioelectric therapies.

Clinical trial registration: The Clinicaltrials.gov registration number for the study is NCT03876288.

Keywords: Electrogastrogram; gastric electrical stimulation; gastroparesis; nausea; vomiting.