[Electromyographic analysis of the motility of the right and transverse colon in 9 colostomized patients].

The aim of this work was to study the electric pattern of proximal colonic motility in patients with permanent colostomy but without past history of an irritable bowel syndrome. Nine patients (55 to 70 years-old) were investigated using a colonoscope with 5 annular electrodes. An electromyogram was recorded during 4 h. In 5 patients, the results observed before and after a standard test meal were compared. The two usual types of electric activity (i. e. Long Spike Bursts (LSB) and Short Spike Bursts (SSB)) were recorded in the right and transverse colon. The duration of LSB and SSB activities were 8.3 +/- 5.5 and 3.7 +/- 3.5 p. 100 respectively (m +/- SD). In 6 patients, the right and transverse colons were recorded simultaneously; in these patients there was a significant difference in LSB activity between the ascending colon and the transverse colon (10.6 +/- 3.7 and 5.6 +/- 4.3 p. 100 respectively; p less than 0.01). After a meal, the right colonic LSB activity increased (greater than 30 p. 100 of the basal level) in 4 out of 5 patients whereas the transverse colonic LSB activity increased only in one patient. The most striking finding of this study was that colonic hypomotility was of a propulsive and tonic nature. These results could explain the nearly continuous flow of faeces commonly observed in patients with colostomy.