Effect of guar gum on gastric emptying after gastric resection.

Gastric emptying after a conventional semisolid meal containing 5 g of guar gum granules or placebo was measured in a double-blind, controlled trial, using a radioisotopic (technetium Tc-99m DTPA) technique, in 11 patients who had undergone gastric resection, and who were experiencing the dumping syndrome. Guar gum clearly slowed gastric emptying in five of the 11 patients, and the results suggest that the addition of guar gum to normal meals, especially those rich in monosaccharides or disaccharides, may be helpful to post-gastrectomy patients suffering from the dumping syndrome.