Objective Impaired gastric accommodation is one of the major pathophysiological factors in functional dyspepsia (FD). Gastrointestinal electric stimulation (GES) as a potential therapy for treating patients with motility disorders has been applied in animal models and clinical practice. However, the response of proximal gastric tone to different GES has not been fully understood. Therefore, the aims of this study were to investigate the effects of GES with different parameters on gastric tone and to estimate the relationship between gastric volume, stimulation energy, and symptoms.

Material and methods Seven dogs equipped with a gastric cannula and two pairs of serosal electrodes in the greater curvature were studied with different GES via a pair of electrodes located 10–14 cm above the pylorus. The gastric volume under constant pressure was measured using a barostat device.

Results The results showed that 1) GES increased the gastric volume in a dose-dependent manner with the increase of stimulation frequency or pulse amplitude. 2) The increase in gastric volume with GES was significantly correlated to stimulation energy. 3) Mild symptoms were noted with stimulation and the score of the induced symptoms was linearly and significantly correlated with gastric volume.

Conclusions GES decreases the proximal gastric tone in an energy-dependent manner. These data suggest that GES could be used to treat patients with impaired gastric accommodation.