‘Striking’ finding
Although researchers predicted that GP was overdiagnosed in the community, the finding that nearly 80% of people referred for tertiary evaluation did not have the condition was “quite striking,” Dr. Cangemi told this news organization.
The findings regarding gastric emptying evaluations highlight the result of a previous study “demonstrating low compliance with gastric emptying protocol guidelines among U.S. medical institutions,” the researchers write.
“Improperly performed GES appears to play a critical role in misdiagnosis of GP,” they add.
The study’s main message is the “importance of performing a proper gastric emptying study,” Dr. Cangemi said. If GES isn’t conducted according to the guidelines, the results may be “misleading,” he added.
Another key point is that FD is a much more prevalent disorder, affecting approximately 10% of the United States population, while GP is “much rarer,” Dr. Cangemi said.
“That might be another reason why patients are mislabeled with gastroparesis – the lack of recognition of functional dyspepsia as a common disorder of gut-brain interaction – and perhaps some hesitation of among some providers to make a confident clinical diagnosis of functional dyspepsia,” he said.
Moreover, Dr. Cangemi said, patients can “go back and forth” between the two disorders. A recent study demonstrated that roughly 40% of patients transition between the two over the course of a year, he noted.
“So being locked into one diagnosis is, I think, not appropriate anymore. Providers really need to keep an open mind and think critically about the results of a gastric emptying study, especially if it was not done recently and especially if the test did not adhere to standard protocol,” he said.
No funding was declared. Co-author Brian E. Lacy, MD, PhD, declared relationships with Ironwood, Urovant, Salix, Sanofi, and Viver. No other relevant financial relationships were declared.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.
