Inter- and intrasubject variability of solid and liquid gastric emptying parameters : a scintigraphic study in healthy subjects and diabetic patients

This study was performed to assess: (1) the inter- and intrasubject variability of gastric emptying measurements by a scintigraphic method in 12 healthy subjects and 14 diabetic patients, and (2) the reproducibility of diagnosis of either the presence or absence of gastroparesis. To address this issue, radiolabeled solid-liquid meals were ingested by all subjects on two separate days. High intersubject variability of gastric emptying measurements was shown in both populations. Intrasubjects variability was higher in diabetic patients than in healthy subjects. However, there was no significant difference between the means of any parameters obtained on two separate days