Comparison of air-coupled balloon esophageal and anorectal manometry catheters with solid-state esophageal manometry and water-perfused anorectal manometry catheters.

Clinical gastrointestinal manometry studies are currently performed with multilumen water-perfused polyvinyl or strain gauge sensor solid-state catheters. A disposable catheter incorporating air-filled balloons has been developed with performance characteristics suitable for esophageal and anorectal manometry studies. Our aim was to compare esophageal and anorectal pressure measurements using this newly developed catheter with measurements obtained using standard solid-state or water-perfused catheters. Measurements of resting LES pressure, esophageal contraction amplitudes, and anorectal rest and squeeze pressures were obtained in 10 healthy volunteers using a solid-state esophageal catheter, a water-perfused anorectal catheter, and air-filled balloon esophageal and anorectal catheters. Correlation coefficient analysis demonstrated that LES pressures, esophageal contraction amplitudes, and anorectal resting and squeeze pressures were not significantly among between the different catheters. We conclude that recently developed air-filled balloon esophageal and anorectal manometry catheters provide very similar measurements of LES, esophageal body, and anorectal sphincter pressures compared to presently used manometry catheters.