OBJECTIVETo investigate the impact of the regeneration of interstitial cell of Cajal (ICC) on the conduction of slow wave and gastric emptying in rats undergoing Roux-en-Y gastrojejunostomy.

METHODSTwenty male SD rats were randomly divided into experimental group and control group. The experimental group consisted of ten rats undergoing Roux-en-Y gastrojejunostomy. The control group only underwent pyloric transection and anastomosis. Gastric scintigraphy was performed in the two groups respectively to measure the half time of gastric emptying (t1/2) at sixteen weeks after the surgical manipulations, and then the myoelectrical activities near the gastrojejunal anastomosis were recorded. The study also observed the regeneration of ICC by the electron microscopy. The data of the 2 groups was compared by t test.

RESULTSIn the sixteenth postoperative week, the t1/2 was (23.5 ± 4.5) minutes for rats in the Roux-en-Y group and (10.2 ± 2.3) minutes for those in the control group, indicating delayed gastric emptying in the Roux-en-Y group (t=7.978, P=0.000), accompanied with the abnormal myoelectrical activities near the gastrojejunal anastomosis. The morphological detection showed that ICC near the gastrojejunal anastomosis regenerated and reconstructed their network in the rats of the experimental group.

CONCLUSIONThe abnormal myoelectrical activities near the gastrojejunal anastomosis, basing on the regeneration and reconstruction of ICC, may make a significant delay on the gastric emptying.