ELECTROMYOGRAPHIC STUDY OF THE CANINE STOMACH

Abstract

In order to clarify the propagation mechanism of canine gastric electrical activity, the stomach was transected and reanastomosed at the middle antrum in 3 dogs and at the distal corpus in 3 dogs.Two bipolar electrodes were implanted in the pre- and postanastomosis stomach. Electromyographic recordings were performed intermittently for 8 to 13 weeks in fasting and after feeding. In one of the 6 dogs, 11 weeks after the initial surgery, one half of the anterior muscle wall of the greater curvature side was reapproximated.In fasting, the BER interval in the preanastomosis remained unchanged, but that in the postanastomosis became prolonged. After feeding, the BER interval in the postanastomosis was shortened and showed an advancement to close to that in the preanastomosis. 3 weeks after reapproximation of partial muscle wall, the BER interval in the postanastomosis recovered to the same BER interval as in the preanastomosis in fasting and after feeding stages. Dysrhythmia in the postanastomosis was of temporal occurrance.These results suggest that an inherent automatism in the gastric wall plays a role in the recovery of the BER interval and close muscle approximation is essential for propagation of gastric electrical activities.