Purpose of Study: Gastric Electrical Stimulation (GES) has successfully treated disordered gastric emptying (DGE) from diabetic, post-viral, and idiopathic etiologies. The utility of GES in DGE due to post-surgical etiologies has not been previously defined. We hypothesized that GES would significantly improve gastric symptoms and physiologic gastric emptying in patients with post-surgical DGE.Methods Used: Adult patients (n=36, 5M/31F) with dietary and pharmacologic refractory post-surgical DGE characterized by chronic nausea and postprandial emesis underwent placement of a permanent GES system. Quantitative symptoms (nausea, vomiting, early satiety, bloating, abdominal pain, scored 0-4; total symptom score summed, 0-20) and measures of gastric emptying (of a low fat meal) were recorded at baseline and after permanent GES placement (permGES) (6-48 month postoperatively). Data from symptom measurements are reported as mean ± standard error of mean. Statistical analysis was performed using Student’s t-test. Improvements in gastric empting were reported according to the differential pathology (rapid or delayed) common to this etiological subset. Summary of Results: Patients with post-surgical DGE who underwent permanent GES implantation had significant improvement in DGE symptoms on long-term postoperative follow-up. Furthermore, 6 of the 11 patients whom were previously Delayed, and 3 of the 5 patients whom were previously Rapid, exhibited sustained improved gastric emptying (toward normal) after permGES placement. Conclusions: In patients suffering from symptomatic refractory post-surgical disordered gastric emptying, permanent placement of gastric electrical stimulation system should be considered a viable option for symptom control.
DGE Symptoms Before and After PermGES

	Nausea	Vomiting	Total Symptom Score
Baseline	3.29 ± 0.20	2.73 ± 0.21	14.2 ± 0.65
After PermGES	1.96 ± 0.30 *	0.89 ± 0.21 *	8.4 ± 0.85 *
Change From Baseline	40.4%	67.4%	40.8%

*p<0.05