Fisher R S, Malmud L S, Applegate G, Rock E, Lorber S H
J Nucl Med. 1982 Oct;23(10):878-82.
The technique of esophageal scintigraphy was developed as a sensitive, quantitative, noninvasive test of esophageal transit. Esophageal scintigraphy was performed in 40 asymptomatic normal volunteers in order to determine the effect on esophageal transit of the following: body posture (sitting vs. supine), liquid vs. solid, the solid being either a standard #4 gelatin capsule of the size used for antibiotic capsules, or a cube of solid food such as cooked chicken liver. The results showed that liquids emptied completely from the esophagus after one swallow, whether supine or sitting. Capsules or liver cubes, when ingested without water, frequently remained in the esophagus for up to two hours without the subject's having any sensation that the solid had not left the esophagus. Both capsules and liver cubes cleared the esophagus better in the upright than in the supine position. When gelatin capsules were swallowed with as little as 15 ml of water, but after a preliminary sip of water, there was complete transit in each case. The study suggests that the practice of assisting patients into a sitting position and instructing them to take a sip of water before attempting to swallow a capsule will assure better transit of the capsule even when swallowed with as little as 15 ml of water. This may reduce the incidence of esophagitis following oral antibiotics, and of esophageal erosions from aspirin-containing medications.
食管闪烁扫描技术是作为一种对食管转运进行敏感、定量、无创的检测方法而开发的。对40名无症状的正常志愿者进行了食管闪烁扫描，以确定以下因素对食管转运的影响：身体姿势（坐姿与仰卧位）、液体与固体，固体为抗生素胶囊大小的标准4号明胶胶囊或如熟鸡肝等固体食物块。结果显示，无论是仰卧还是坐姿，液体在吞咽一次后均能完全从食管排空。胶囊或肝块在无水情况下摄入时，经常会在食管内停留长达两小时，而受试者却没有任何固体未离开食管的感觉。胶囊和肝块在直立位时比仰卧位时能更好地通过食管。当明胶胶囊用低至15毫升水吞服，但先喝一小口水后，每种情况下均能完全通过。该研究表明，帮助患者采取坐姿并指导他们在试图吞咽胶囊前喝一小口水的做法，即使在只用低至15毫升水吞服胶囊时，也能确保胶囊更好地通过。这可能会降低口服抗生素后食管炎以及含阿司匹林药物引起食管糜烂的发生率。
