Gastrointestinal motility in normal subjects and patients with diverticulosis of the colon.

Our study included 25 subjects, ten with normal intestinal habits and 15 with colonic diverticulosis. Data was collected from X-rays of gastrointestinal transit times and from intraluminal pressures in the sigmoid and rectum, using electromanometry. A comparison of the results led to the following conclusions: 1) transit times to the cecum were essentially similar in both the control subjects and patients with diverticulosis; 2) the barium contrast arrived twice as fast in the proximal sigmoid of patients with diverticulosis compared to the control group. Therefore, there is an increase in the transit between the cecum and sigmoid in individuals with diverticulosis of the colon; 3) the mean of the total time of gastrointestinal emptying is similar in both groups; 4) under unstimulated conditions, the electromanometric study of the sigmoid and rectum was similar in both groups; 5) the sigmoid region in patients with diverticulosis has a modulating transit capacity delaying it. This modulation was not reflected in the electromanometric study as an increase in motor activity.