With complete gastric outlet obstruction there is failure of the stomach to empty. The saline load test is a way of standardizing the measurement of retained gastric contents.
Patient selection: suspected gastric outlet obstruction
Procedure:
(1) The patient is placed in the right lateral position with a 16 French nasogastric tube placed.
(2) The stomach is decompressed through the nasogastric tube. The airway should be protected during this process.
(3) 750 mL of normal saline (0.9% sodium chloride) is infused into the stomach over 3-5 minutes.
(4) After 30 minutes the gastric contents is aspirated and the residual volume measured.
Residual Volume
Interpretation
> 400 mL
definite outlet obstruction
300 to 400 mL
probable outlet obstruction
200 to 300 mL
indeterminate
< 200 mL
normal
Performance:
• A partial obstruction may be missed.
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Specialty: Gastroenterology
