[Gastric emptying in children. I. Influence of the temperature of a hydration solution for oral use].

The effect of temperature of solutions on gastric emptying was studied in sixteen children (8 infants and 8 newborns). At the time of the study all of them were being fed by nasogastric tube. Each baby had measured its gastric emptying for two different temperature solutions, approximately 27 degrees C and 4 degrees C, room and cold temperature. The gastric retention was calculated by knowing the injected volume, of about 20 ml per kilo of weight, the aspirated volume after 10 minutes and the obtained concentration of phenol red used as marker. The results showed a significant larger gastric retention for low temperature one. Possibly, low temperature solutions decrease the gastric peristalsis in accordance with hypothesis that low temperature solutions may inhibit vomiting.