Increasing Health Care Outcomes of Gastroparesis

In the absence of mechanical blockage, gastroparesis is a disorder characterized by delayed stomach emptying that lasts for at least three months. The symptoms of the condition include bloating, early satiety, nausea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Abnormalities in gastrointestinal motor function, a complicated series of events linked to the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems, gastric smooth muscle cells, pacemaker cells in the stomach and intestine, and the pyloric sphincter, result from delayed or ineffective gastric emptying. Patients with gastroparesis also show changes in cytokine expression and mucosal immune cell infiltration. Over 50% of gastroparesis cases are idiopathic; typical reasons include diabetes, surgery, and infection. The increased prevalence of diabetes, obesity, and the drugs that cause it to have all been linked to an increased incidence of gastroparesis. Clinically, functional dyspepsia and gastroparesis frequently co-occur, and many patients have symptoms that overlap; diagnostic testing is crucial to confirm the existence of gastroparesis. In addition to highlighting the crucial role of the interprofessional healthcare team in promoting patient outcomes along with this gastrointestinal disease process, this activity is precise on the epidemiology, etiology, pathophysiology, evaluation, and therapy of gastroparesis.