User login
PHILADELPHIA – Particularly in adults, there are three conditions that produce symptoms consistent with idiopathic gastroparesis and should be specifically considered in a detailed history conducted before advanced diagnostic tests, according to a clinical update at the Fourth Annual Digestive Diseases: New Advances meeting, held by Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and Global Academy for Medical Education.
The three disorders “are very important, because we see them missed all the time,” reported Anthony J. Lembo, MD, director of the GI Motility Laboratory, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston.
“If you do not take a detailed enough history or if the patient is not willing to tell you about their past history, there is a good chance that these will go undetected,” Dr. Lembo explained. In his update on gastroparesis, he identified the recognition of these disorders as the most important clinical pearl of his overview of the challenges faced when evaluating the highly nonspecific symptoms of delayed–bowel transit time.
“Rumination syndrome has a very classic set of symptoms. When the patient swallows food, it will almost immediately or very quickly come back up. Sometimes the food is vomited. Often, it gets swallowed back down. That is not gastroparesis,” Dr. Lembo explained. Although vomiting after eating is a common symptom of gastroparesis, it is typically delayed by hours.
Cyclical vomiting syndrome, perhaps more readily recognized in children, does occur in adults more than many clinicians appreciate, according to Dr. Lembo. He said that there is one key giveaway for this condition: patients are asymptomatic between episodes. He also said that episodes are separated by substantial intervals of weeks to months.
Symptoms associated with cannabinoids are most commonly observed in young men frequently using marijuana over an extended period, according to Dr. Lembo. He said reports that symptoms are improved with hot showers may be a clue that marijuana is involved in the etiology. Urine tests are useful when patients suspected of marijuana use deny this history.
The problem is that, even when cannabinoid use is isolated as the cause of bowel symptoms, many patients are convinced that their symptoms improve, rather than get worse, with marijuana use. This is a common obstacle to the abstention needed to evaluate benefit, according to Dr. Lembo.
As for other possible etiologies, Dr. Lembo advised upper endoscopy to rule out mechanical causes of gastroparesis, such as peptic ulcer disease, proximal bowel obstruction, or gastrointestinal cancer. He specifically recommended scoping to the “third portion of the duodenum” when obstruction is being considered in the differential diagnosis.
When gastroparesis is considered the most likely cause of symptoms, Dr. Lembo recommended a gastric-emptying study to increase confidence in the diagnosis. He identified 4-hour scintigraphy as the standard of care, as defined by current guidelines. However, he warned that even well-regarded centers do not always follow this standard. Based on the lower sensitivity and specificity of shorter duration tests and of other options such as breath tests or wireless motility capsules, clinicians “should really insist” on the 4-hour gastric-emptying test when they are concerned about documentation, he said.
Once the diagnosis has been made, there are numerous therapeutic options, but the top three are “diet, diet, and diet,” according to Dr. Lembo. In his review of prokinetic drugs, such as metoclopramide and motilin agonists, he cautioned that there is often a delicate balance between risk and benefit. New options on the horizon include a ghrelin agonist that showed promise in a phase III trial, but he noted that many patients with severe unremitting symptoms are prepared to try almost anything.
“These can be desperate people when they have failed everything that is out there,” Dr. Lembo noted. He acknowledged that such patients express interest even in strategies that have failed to show convincing benefit in controlled trials, such as botulism toxin injection and neuroenteric gastric stimulators. When all other options have been exhausted, a referral to a specialist for experimental therapies may be appropriate because of the major adverse impact of unremitting symptoms on quality of life.
Dr. Lembo reported financial relationships with Alkermes, Allergan, Forest, Ironwood, Prometheus, and Salix.
PHILADELPHIA – Particularly in adults, there are three conditions that produce symptoms consistent with idiopathic gastroparesis and should be specifically considered in a detailed history conducted before advanced diagnostic tests, according to a clinical update at the Fourth Annual Digestive Diseases: New Advances meeting, held by Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and Global Academy for Medical Education.
The three disorders “are very important, because we see them missed all the time,” reported Anthony J. Lembo, MD, director of the GI Motility Laboratory, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston.
“If you do not take a detailed enough history or if the patient is not willing to tell you about their past history, there is a good chance that these will go undetected,” Dr. Lembo explained. In his update on gastroparesis, he identified the recognition of these disorders as the most important clinical pearl of his overview of the challenges faced when evaluating the highly nonspecific symptoms of delayed–bowel transit time.
“Rumination syndrome has a very classic set of symptoms. When the patient swallows food, it will almost immediately or very quickly come back up. Sometimes the food is vomited. Often, it gets swallowed back down. That is not gastroparesis,” Dr. Lembo explained. Although vomiting after eating is a common symptom of gastroparesis, it is typically delayed by hours.
Cyclical vomiting syndrome, perhaps more readily recognized in children, does occur in adults more than many clinicians appreciate, according to Dr. Lembo. He said that there is one key giveaway for this condition: patients are asymptomatic between episodes. He also said that episodes are separated by substantial intervals of weeks to months.
Symptoms associated with cannabinoids are most commonly observed in young men frequently using marijuana over an extended period, according to Dr. Lembo. He said reports that symptoms are improved with hot showers may be a clue that marijuana is involved in the etiology. Urine tests are useful when patients suspected of marijuana use deny this history.
The problem is that, even when cannabinoid use is isolated as the cause of bowel symptoms, many patients are convinced that their symptoms improve, rather than get worse, with marijuana use. This is a common obstacle to the abstention needed to evaluate benefit, according to Dr. Lembo.
As for other possible etiologies, Dr. Lembo advised upper endoscopy to rule out mechanical causes of gastroparesis, such as peptic ulcer disease, proximal bowel obstruction, or gastrointestinal cancer. He specifically recommended scoping to the “third portion of the duodenum” when obstruction is being considered in the differential diagnosis.
When gastroparesis is considered the most likely cause of symptoms, Dr. Lembo recommended a gastric-emptying study to increase confidence in the diagnosis. He identified 4-hour scintigraphy as the standard of care, as defined by current guidelines. However, he warned that even well-regarded centers do not always follow this standard. Based on the lower sensitivity and specificity of shorter duration tests and of other options such as breath tests or wireless motility capsules, clinicians “should really insist” on the 4-hour gastric-emptying test when they are concerned about documentation, he said.
Once the diagnosis has been made, there are numerous therapeutic options, but the top three are “diet, diet, and diet,” according to Dr. Lembo. In his review of prokinetic drugs, such as metoclopramide and motilin agonists, he cautioned that there is often a delicate balance between risk and benefit. New options on the horizon include a ghrelin agonist that showed promise in a phase III trial, but he noted that many patients with severe unremitting symptoms are prepared to try almost anything.
“These can be desperate people when they have failed everything that is out there,” Dr. Lembo noted. He acknowledged that such patients express interest even in strategies that have failed to show convincing benefit in controlled trials, such as botulism toxin injection and neuroenteric gastric stimulators. When all other options have been exhausted, a referral to a specialist for experimental therapies may be appropriate because of the major adverse impact of unremitting symptoms on quality of life.
Dr. Lembo reported financial relationships with Alkermes, Allergan, Forest, Ironwood, Prometheus, and Salix.
PHILADELPHIA – Particularly in adults, there are three conditions that produce symptoms consistent with idiopathic gastroparesis and should be specifically considered in a detailed history conducted before advanced diagnostic tests, according to a clinical update at the Fourth Annual Digestive Diseases: New Advances meeting, held by Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, and Global Academy for Medical Education.
The three disorders “are very important, because we see them missed all the time,” reported Anthony J. Lembo, MD, director of the GI Motility Laboratory, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston.
“If you do not take a detailed enough history or if the patient is not willing to tell you about their past history, there is a good chance that these will go undetected,” Dr. Lembo explained. In his update on gastroparesis, he identified the recognition of these disorders as the most important clinical pearl of his overview of the challenges faced when evaluating the highly nonspecific symptoms of delayed–bowel transit time.
“Rumination syndrome has a very classic set of symptoms. When the patient swallows food, it will almost immediately or very quickly come back up. Sometimes the food is vomited. Often, it gets swallowed back down. That is not gastroparesis,” Dr. Lembo explained. Although vomiting after eating is a common symptom of gastroparesis, it is typically delayed by hours.
Cyclical vomiting syndrome, perhaps more readily recognized in children, does occur in adults more than many clinicians appreciate, according to Dr. Lembo. He said that there is one key giveaway for this condition: patients are asymptomatic between episodes. He also said that episodes are separated by substantial intervals of weeks to months.
Symptoms associated with cannabinoids are most commonly observed in young men frequently using marijuana over an extended period, according to Dr. Lembo. He said reports that symptoms are improved with hot showers may be a clue that marijuana is involved in the etiology. Urine tests are useful when patients suspected of marijuana use deny this history.
The problem is that, even when cannabinoid use is isolated as the cause of bowel symptoms, many patients are convinced that their symptoms improve, rather than get worse, with marijuana use. This is a common obstacle to the abstention needed to evaluate benefit, according to Dr. Lembo.
As for other possible etiologies, Dr. Lembo advised upper endoscopy to rule out mechanical causes of gastroparesis, such as peptic ulcer disease, proximal bowel obstruction, or gastrointestinal cancer. He specifically recommended scoping to the “third portion of the duodenum” when obstruction is being considered in the differential diagnosis.
When gastroparesis is considered the most likely cause of symptoms, Dr. Lembo recommended a gastric-emptying study to increase confidence in the diagnosis. He identified 4-hour scintigraphy as the standard of care, as defined by current guidelines. However, he warned that even well-regarded centers do not always follow this standard. Based on the lower sensitivity and specificity of shorter duration tests and of other options such as breath tests or wireless motility capsules, clinicians “should really insist” on the 4-hour gastric-emptying test when they are concerned about documentation, he said.
Once the diagnosis has been made, there are numerous therapeutic options, but the top three are “diet, diet, and diet,” according to Dr. Lembo. In his review of prokinetic drugs, such as metoclopramide and motilin agonists, he cautioned that there is often a delicate balance between risk and benefit. New options on the horizon include a ghrelin agonist that showed promise in a phase III trial, but he noted that many patients with severe unremitting symptoms are prepared to try almost anything.
“These can be desperate people when they have failed everything that is out there,” Dr. Lembo noted. He acknowledged that such patients express interest even in strategies that have failed to show convincing benefit in controlled trials, such as botulism toxin injection and neuroenteric gastric stimulators. When all other options have been exhausted, a referral to a specialist for experimental therapies may be appropriate because of the major adverse impact of unremitting symptoms on quality of life.
Dr. Lembo reported financial relationships with Alkermes, Allergan, Forest, Ironwood, Prometheus, and Salix.