How Is Gastroparesis Diagnosed?
To diagnose gastroparesis, your doctor will review your symptoms and medical history. He or she will also give you a physical examination and may order certain blood tests, including blood sugar levels. Other tests used to diagnose and evaluate gastroparesis may include: • Barium X-ray : You drink a liquid (barium), which covers your esophagus, stomach, and small intestine and shows up on X-ray. This test is also known as an upper GI (gastrointestinal) series or a barium swallow. • Barium beefsteak meal: You eat a meal with barium in it, and the doctor observes your stomach on X-ray as it digests the meal. The rate of digestion will tell your doctor how quickly your stomach is emptying. • Radioisotope gastric-emptying scan: You eat food that contains a radioisotope (a radioactive substance), then lie under a scanning machine; if the scan shows that more than half of the food is still in your stomach after two hours, you are diagnosed with gastroparesis. • Gastric manometry: A thin tube
