Intestinal transit in healthy Southern Indian subjects and in patients with tropical sprue

Abstract

Whole gut transit was measured in a group of 21 healthy volunteers and 21 patients with tropical sprue by radio-opaque marker technique, using mean transit time single (MTTS) and single stool transit (SST) method. Mean SST in controls was 25-8 (1·4) (SE) hours, which is considerably shorter than in controls in temperate zones. Mean SST (23·7 (0·6) h) correlated significantly with average MTTS (24·9 (1·6) h) (r=0·88; p<0·001) confirming that SST is a valid method to measure intestinal transit in the tropics. Patients with tropical sprue had a mean SST similar to controls (24·4 (1·1) h), in spite of significantly higher faecal weights (580 (41·2) g v 252 (17·2) g; p<0·001).