UC expert weighs in on new clinical practice guideline for gastroparesis
College of Medicine faculty member featured in news article on the topic
Gastroparesis should be confirmed with a four-hour gastric emptying test before initiating first-line therapy, according to the first evidence-based, gastroparesis-focused clinical practice guideline issued by the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA). MedCentral recently reported on the new guideline. By addressing diagnostic inconsistencies and limited therapeutic options, the AGA developed this new guideline to standardize management of gastroparesis.
“Some of the significant new guideline recommendations include diagnostic testing, the importance of implementing a gastroparesis-specific diet alongside pharmacologic therapy, and, lastly, when to offer patients G-POEM,” Susan S. Kais, MD, told MedCentral. Kais is an assistant professor of clinical medicine in the Division of Digestive Diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine at University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
Gastroparesis is a gastric motility disorder marked by delayed gastric emptying without evidence of obstruction, leading to symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and gastrointestinal discomfort.
“Citing strong evidence that shorter protocols frequently miss delayed gastric emptying, this shift from the commonly used two-hour testing requires us to be more specific when ordering diagnostic testing to ensure that the radiology team now performs the four-hour protocol,” noted Kais, who is also a UC Health gastroenterologist.
Before the release of this new guideline, U.S. clinicians typically relied on the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) guideline published in 2022. This new AGA guideline builds upon the foundation laid by the ACG, introducing more rigorous diagnostic standards, more conservative procedural recommendations and a more cautious approach to off-label therapies.
In addition, the guideline recommends a multidisciplinary approach, including dietetics, primary care and gastroenterology, with surgery or interventional endoscopy in select cases.
Featured image at top: iStock/Tharakorn.
Related Stories
Sugar overload killing hearts
November 10, 2025
Two in five people will be told they have diabetes during their lifetime. And people who have diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease. One of the deadliest dangers? Diabetic cardiomyopathy. But groundbreaking University of Cincinnati research hopes to stop and even reverse the damage before it’s too late.
Is going nuclear the solution to Ohio’s energy costs?
November 10, 2025
The Ohio Capital Journal recently reported that as energy prices continue to climb, economists are weighing the benefits of going nuclear to curb costs. The publication dove into a Scioto Analysis survey of 18 economists to weigh the pros and cons of nuclear energy. One economist featured was Iryna Topolyan, PhD, professor of economics at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business.
App turns smartwatch into detector of structural heart disease
November 10, 2025
An app that uses an AI model to read a single-lead ECG from a smartwatch can detect structural heart disease, researchers reported at the 2025 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. Although the technology requires further validation, researchers said it could help improve the identification of patients with heart failure, valvular conditions and left ventricular hypertrophy before they become symptomatic, which could improve the prognosis for people with these conditions.