Intestinal gas content and distribution in health and in patients with functional gut symptoms

Background: The precise relation of intestinal gas to symptoms, particularly abdominal bloating and distension remains incompletely elucidated. Our aim was to define the normal values of intestinal gas volume and distribution and to identify abnormalities in relation to functional-type symptoms. Met...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Bendezú, Álvaro, Barba, Elisabeth, Burri, Emanuel, Cisternas, Daniel, Malagelada Prats, Carolina, Segui, Santi, Accarino Garaventa, Anna María, Quiroga, Sergi, Monclús Lahoya, Eva|||0000-0002-9645-0510, Navazo Álvaro, Isabel|||0000-0001-6298-1463, Malagelada Benapres, Juan Ramon, Azpiroz Vidaur, Fernando
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2015
País:España
Institución:Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC)
Repositorio:UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:upcommons.upc.edu:2117/79538
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/2117/79538
https://dx.doi.org/10.1111/nmo.12618
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Gastrointestinal system--Motility--Disorders
abdominal bloating
abdominal distension
functional gut disorders
intestinal gas
Tracte gastrointestinal--Motilitat
Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Informàtica::Aplicacions de la informàtica::Bioinformàtica
Descripción
Sumario:Background: The precise relation of intestinal gas to symptoms, particularly abdominal bloating and distension remains incompletely elucidated. Our aim was to define the normal values of intestinal gas volume and distribution and to identify abnormalities in relation to functional-type symptoms. Methods:Abdominal computed tomography scans were evaluated in healthy subjects (n = 37) and in patients in three conditions: basal (when they were feeling well; n = 88), during an episode of abdominal distension (n = 82) and after a challenge diet (n = 24). Intestinal gas content and distribution were measured by an original analysis program. Identification of patients outside the normal range was performed by machine learning techniques (one-class classifier). Results are expressed as median (IQR) or mean ± SE, as appropriate. Key Results: In healthy subjects the gut contained 95 (71, 141) mL gas distributed along the entire lumen. No differences were detected between patients studied under asymptomatic basal conditions and healthy subjects. However, either during a spontaneous bloating episode or once challenged with a flatulogenic diet, luminal gas was found to be increased and/or abnormally distributed in about one-fourth of the patients. These patients detected outside the normal range by the classifier exhibited a significantly greater number of abnormal features than those within the normal range (3.7 ± 0.4 vs 0.4 ± 0.1; p < 0.001). Conclusions & Inferences: The analysis of a large cohort of subjects using original techniques provides unique and heretofore unavailable information on the volume and distribution of intestinal gas in normal conditions and in relation to functional gastrointestinal symptoms.