Should gastric emptying scintigraphy studies be performed, as standard, on paediatric patients with suspected gastroparesis? A systematic literature review

Gastric emptying scintigraphy (GES) is considered the gold standard test for gastroparesis (GP). The purpose of this systematic literature review is to establish what other tests exist for the diagnosis of GP in paediatrics. This is to aid clinical management of paediatric patients with suspected GP, who may not be able to tolerate gastric emptying studies or have access to nuclear medicine departments. Therefore, the following question is posed: 'Should gastric emptying scintigraphy studies be performed, as standard, on paediatric patients with suspected gastroparesis?' A comprehensive literature review was conducted using general library search and databases from the University of the West of England's library. Key themes were tabulated for reference and analysis. Papers were screened for relevancy. Thirteen papers were included in the final review. The review has shown that there are other tests, such as 13C-breath tests (13BT) and wireless motility capsule test (WMC), available to diagnose GP in paediatrics; however, it has also shown that these are limited by a lack of standardisation in how they are undertaken and reported. Although consensus recommendations for paediatric GES have now been released, these could be further developed and improved with the use of multicentre collaboration. 13BT and WMC tests could be more widely utilised, but are limited by a lack of standardisation and availability. Therefore, this review has found that until standardisation is achieved within the other tests, GES has become and remains the standard test to diagnose GP in the paediatric population.