Intestinal dysmotility syndromes in the elderly: measurement of orocecal transit time.

Altered bowel habits are common symptoms in the elderly, yet the pathophysiology of age-related gastrointestinal dysmotility syndromes is poorly understood. The present study was designed to correlate changes in orocecal transit time (TT) in healthy elderly subjects with or without gastrointestinal dysmotility complaints. Twenty-two geriatric facility resident volunteers, mean age 82 yr (range 65-94 yr) participated, of whom 16 had gastrointestinal dysmotility symptoms. Orocecal TT in the elderly subjects did not differ from that in younger adult controls (100 +/- 11 min vs 93 +/- 20 min). However, orocecal TT was longer in geriatric females (112 +/- 14 min) than in males (70 +/- 6 min, p less than 0.01). We conclude that age alone does not prolong orocecal TT, except when dysmotility symptoms have been present for a prolonged period.

Clonidine prolongs human small intestine transit time: use of the lactulose-breath hydrogen test.

Clonidine, an alpha 2-adrenergic agonist, has been shown to be useful in the treatment of some patients with chronic diarrhea. Previous animal and human studies have suggested that clonidine alters both small bowel fluid absorption and total gut motility. We measured the effect of clonidine 0.3 mg on oro-cecal transit time, using the lactulose-breath hydrogen test. Intestinal transit time in six normal healthy male volunteers after administration of clonidine was 148 +/- 20 min, and was 90 +/- 7 min with a placebo (p less than 0.05). The average prolongation in transit time was 69.5%. We conclude that clonidine may markedly alter human small intestine transit time which explains, at least in part, the mechanism for this agent's antidiarrheal effect.