Motor and myoelectric activity associated with vomiting, regurgitation, and nausea

Physiology of the Digestive Tract Correlates of Vomiting

Emesis is composed of 3 independent digestive tract correlates that are individually organized by a brainstem neural network and all 3 hierarchically organized by a central pattern generator. The central pattern generator may be in the Bötzinger nucleus of the brain stem. The digestive tract sensory mechanisms that activate vomiting are the digestive tract mucosa or chemoreceptive trigger zone of the area postrema. Regardless of the initial stimulus, the area postrema may be activated in order to inhibit orthograde digestive tract motility and reflux blocking reflexes that would interfere with anterograde movement, which is the basic purpose of vomiting. The digestive tract correlates are (1) relaxation of the upper stomach and contraction of the lower pharynx, (2) retrograde giant contraction, and (3) the pharyngo-esophageal responses during retching and vomitus expulsion. The proximal gastric response allows gastroesophageal reflux, the lower pharyngeal response prevents supra-esophageal reflux, and both last the duration of the vomit process. The retrograde giant contraction empties the proximal digestive tract of noxious agents and supplies the stomach with fluids to neutralize the gastric acid which protect the esophagus from damage during expulsion. The retch mixes the gastric contents with acid neutralizer and gives momentum to the expelled bolus. During vomitus expulsion the esophagus is maximally stretched longitudinally which stiffens its wall to allow rapid transport as the suprahyoid muscles and diaphragmatic dome contract, and the hiatal fibers relax.

The Role of Central and Enteric Nervous Systems in the Control of the Retrograde Giant Contraction

Background/Aims

The role of the enteric (ENS) and central (CNS) nervous systems in the control of the retrograde giant contraction (RGC) associated with vomiting is unknown.

Methods

The effects of myotomy or mesenteric nerve transection (MNT) on apomorphine-induced emesis were investigated in 18 chronically instrumented dogs

Results

Neither surgery affected the RGC orad of the surgical site or the velocity of the RGC over the entire small intestine. Myotomy blocked the RGC for 17 ± 5 cm aborad of the myotomy, and the velocity of the RGC from 100 to 70 cm from the pylorus slowed (18.1 ± 3.0 to 9.0 ± 0.8 cm/sec) such that the RGC orad and aborad of the myotomy occurred simultaneously. After MNT, the RGC was unchanged up to 66 ± 6 cm from the pylorus, and the sequence of the RGC across the denervated intestine was unaltered. The velocity of the RGC from 100 to 70 cm from the pylorus increased from 12.8 ± 1.6 to 196 ± 116 cm/sec. After myotomy or MNT, the percent occurrence and magnitude of the RGC across the intestine 100 to 70 cm from the pylorus decreased.

Conclusions

The CNS activates the RGC 10 to 20 cm aborad of its innervation of the intestine and controls the RGC sequence. On the other hand, the ENS plays a role in initiation and generation of the RGC.

Recent progress in gastric arrhythmia: pathophysiology, clinical significance and future horizons

Gastric arrhythmia continues to be of uncertain diagnostic and therapeutic significance. However, recent progress has been substantial, with technical advances, theoretical insights and experimental discoveries offering new translational opportunities. The discoveries that interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC) generate slow waves and that ICC defects are associated with dysmotility have reinvigorated gastric arrhythmia research. Increasing evidence now suggests that ICC depletion and damage, network disruption and channelopathies may lead to aberrant slow wave initiation and conduction. Histological and high-resolution (HR) electrical mapping studies have now redefined the human 'gastric conduction system', providing an improved baseline for arrhythmia research. The application of HR mapping to arrhythmia has also generated important new insights into the spatiotemporal dynamics of arrhythmia onset and maintenance, resulting in the emergence of new provisional classification schemes. Meanwhile, the strong associations between gastric functional disorders and electrogastrography (EGG) abnormalities (e.g. in gastroparesis, unexplained nausea and vomiting and functional dyspepsia) continue to motivate deeper inquiries into the nature and causes of gastrointestinal arrhythmias. In future, technical progress in EGG methods, new HR mapping devices and software, wireless slow wave acquisition systems and improved gastric pacing devices may achieve validated applications in clinical practice. Neurohormonal factors in arrhythmogenesis also continue to be elucidated and a deepening understanding of these mechanisms may open opportunities for drug design for treating arrhythmias. However, for all translational goals, it remains to be seen whether arrhythmia can be corrected in a way that meaningfully improves organ function and symptoms in patients.