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The purpose of this prospective study was to assess colonic myoelectric activity during fasting and after a test meal in patients with the Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and in control subjects. Colonic electromyographic activity was recorded using an intraluminal probe in 14 patients and in 8 controls. Only rapid electrical activity [i. e. Short Spike Bursts (SSB) and Long Spike Bursts (LSB)] was taken into account. In control subjects the test meal provoked a significant increase in LSB from 46.7 +/- 16.3 to 88.6 +/- 20.3 (p less than 0.001) but not in SSB. In IBS patients rapid myoelectrical activity was not significantly modified by food intake (47.2 +/- 10.3 vs. 62.2 +/- 10.9; NS). The increase of postprandial LSB activity was found to be significantly higher in controls than in IBS patients (41.8 +/- 7.6 vs. 12.9 +/- 8.4; p less than 0.05). These results showed that colonic myoelectrical activity in IBS patients is different from that of controls; such a difference could be useful in classifying IBS patients.

The aim of this work was to answer the two following questions: 1) is there any difference between the right colonic, the left colonic, and the rectosigmoid motility? 2) does the rectosigmoid junction (radiological and endoscopic entity) exhibit a specific motility pattern? Colonic motility was assessed by electromyography. We used an intraluminal probe supporting 15 groups of 3 ring electrodes. Inside the probe a lead pellet was placed opposite each electrode. The probe was inserted through the colon by colonoscopy. A visual analysis of the signal was performed and we distinguished: Long Spike Bursts (LSB) activity (propagating in oral or aboral direction or not propagating) from Short Spike Bursts (SSB) activity as previously described. Twenty patients suffering from the irritable bowel syndrome included in a subgroup defined as abdominal pain, were studied, and two groups were defined as follows: the tip of the probe was positioned in the caecum in 9: group "Right colon" patients. An electrode was specifically located on the rectosigmoid junction in 15: group "Junction" patients. In the "Right colon" group, the postprandial increase of LSB activity in the rectosigmoid lasted longer than in the right and left colons. During the postprandial period, the right colon exhibited a lower LSB activity than the rectosigmoid (p less than 0.01). After the meal LSB activity propagating in aboral direction was increased in the right colon while it was inhibited in the rectosigmoid. LSB activity propagating in the oral direction was increased both in the right colon and rectosigmoid after the meal. In the "Junction" group, we observed a specific myoelectrical activity at the rectosigmoid junction.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

The tip of an intraluminal probe was positioned in the cecum, and before and after a standard meal (greater than 800 kcal), the rapid myoelectrical activity of the right, the left, and the rectosigmoid colon in six healthy subjects was recorded. In each colonic site, we recorded two different patterns of spike bursts: Short spike bursts and long spike bursts, as previously described. We observed no difference in either the duration or the amplitude of the two kinds of spike bursts among the three different parts of the colon. Before the meal, the number of long spike bursts was lower in the right than in the left colon (P less than 0.01) and than in the rectosigmoid (P less than 0.01). After the meal, a significant activity increase in long spike bursts lasted 20 min in the right colon (P less than 0.001), 100 min in the left colon, and in the rectosigmoid (P less than 0.001-P less than 0.05). This activity was always significantly less intense in the right colon than in the two other sites (P less than 0.001-P less than 0.01) and was less marked in the left colon than in the rectosigmoid (P 0.01-P less than 0.05). The short spike burst activity remained unchanged. These results provide evidence for the heterogeneity of motility in the different parts of the colon, with a relative hypomotility of the right colon compared to the left colon and the rectosigmoid in the healthy human.