Gastric Emptying Scans: Poor Adherence to National Guidelines.
Dig Dis Sci
; 66(9): 2897-2906, 2021 09.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32418002
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Accurately diagnosing gastroparesis relies upon gastric emptying scintigraphy (GES) being performed correctly. Jointly published protocol guidelines have long been available; however, the extent to which practitioners adhere to these guidelines is unknown.AIMS:
This study aimed to assess national compliance with established GES protocol guidelines.METHODS:
We developed a questionnaire addressing the key protocol measures outlined in the Consensus Recommendations for Gastric Emptying Scintigraphy. Survey questions addressed patient information collection (15), patient preparation and procedure protocol (16), meal content and preparation (7), imaging (3), interpretation (4), reporting (7), and institutional demographic data (7). The anonymous questionnaire was distributed electronically to members of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Medical Imaging (SNMMI) and non-member recipients of the SNMMI daily email newsletter. One response per medical institution was permitted.RESULTS:
A total of 121 out of 872 potential medical institutions (MI) responded (13.9%); 49 (40.4%) were academic/teaching medical centers. The annual number (mean) of GES procedures was 199.9 (range 5-2000 GES/year). On average, MI performed 33.5/52 (64%) of protocol measures according to guidelines while academic medical centers performed 31.5/52 (61%) of protocol measures according to guidelines. Only 4 out of 88 MI (4.5%) performed GES while adhering to three criticalmeasures:
validated study duration; controlled blood glucose levels; and proper restriction of medications.CONCLUSIONS:
Low compliance with GES protocol guidelines, even among academic medical centers, raises the likely possibility of misdiagnosis and improper management of upper gastrointestinal symptoms. These results highlight a need for increased awareness of protocol guidelines for gastric scintigraphy.Key words
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Stomach
/
Radionuclide Imaging
/
Clinical Protocols
/
Practice Guidelines as Topic
/
Gastroparesis
/
Gastric Emptying
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
America do norte
Language:
En
Journal:
Dig Dis Sci
Year:
2021
Document type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States