PRACTICAL GASTROENTEROLOGY • MAY 200754 OVERVIEWS OF GASTROPARESIS

Gastroparesis is characterized by delayed orimpaired passage of gastric contents in theabsence of mechanical obstruction. Symptoms vary and include nausea, vomiting, bloating, and abdominal pain. The symptoms and clinical presenta-tion of gastroparesis is reflective of its pathogenesis, severity, and association with predisposing or associ-ated conditions. Gastroparesis is related to a variety of underlying disorders. The most common causes of gastroparesis are diabetic, postsurgical and idiopathic (1). The true prevalence of gastroparesis is unknown. It is thought to occur in 20%–40 % of patients with Type I diabetes mellitus and about 20 % of patients with type II dia-betes. Delayed gastric emptying occurs in about 25% of patients with functional dyspepsia, a disorder which includes a constellation of abdominal complaints that affects up to 20 % of the U.S. population (2). Patients may develop gastroparesis after undergoing foregut surgery with or without vagotomy. One study noted that up to 8 % of patients with postsurgical gastropare-sis had developed symptoms after cholecystectomy (3). An increasing awareness is being paid to post-Nis-sen gastroparesis. Finally, the third most commo