Jejunitis with malaborption. A quantitative study of the gastric and intestinal handling of a meal during malabsorption and after recovery.

The gastric and intestinal response to a standard meal was examined with a quantitative multiple indicator dilution technique in a patient with jejunitis and malabsorption. Examinations were made during and after recovery from disease. The malabsorptive state was associated with a marked delay of the gastric emptying paralleled by a low gastric secretion rate. Despite the low delivery rate from the stomach, large fluid volumes passed at the investigated level 70 cm distal to the pyloric sphincter. This was due to a reduced absorption of nutrients and water during a rapid transit of the proximal intestine and to persistently high pancreatic and intestinal secretion rates. A comparison with data from the healthy experiment suggests that the strong gastric inhibition during malabsorption works as an effective compensation for the decreased absorptive capacity after the second hour from meal intake and onwards.