Proximal and distal esophageal sensitivity is decreased in patients with Barrett’s esophagus

Table 1 Stimulation intensities to evoke the predefined sensory levels on the visual analogue scale while stimulating with distension, heat and electricity 4 and 14 cm above the esophago-gastric junction, median (range)

VAS level	Patients				Controls
	1	3	5	7	1	3	5	7
Heat (s)
4 cm1	12 (7-18)	14 (11-20)	15 (12-34)	NA	11 (5-18)	13 (6-20)	14 (6-23)	NA
14 cm1	12 (5-14)	15 (6-24)	17 (6-32)	NA	9 (4-17)	11 (7-18)	13 (8-20)	NA
Mechanical (mL)
4 cm1	11 (1-38)	25 (12-50)	36 (18-50)	50 (20-50)	8 (2-24)	21 (6-50)	28 (10-50)	33 (13-50)
14 cm	5 (3-17)	14 (9-26)	18 (10-34)	25 (11-46)	5 (1-27)	14 (4-40)	18 (8-44)	19 (10-46)
Electrical (mA)
4 cm	7 (4-17)	9 (5-21)	12 (6-25)	13 (6-26)	7 (4-15)	8 (5-20)	10 (8-21)	12 (9-24)
14 cm	4 (2-6)	5 (3-10)	7 (5-13)	9 (6-16)	4 (2-9)	6 (4-12)	8 (4-13)	11 (5-15)

¹Overall statistically significant difference between patients and controls. Heat stimulation is expressed as stimulation time to reach the thresholds. On the visual analogue scale, 1 = the sensation threshold, 3 = vague perception of moderate sensation, 5 = the pain threshold, and 7 = moderate pain. VAS: Visual analogue scale; NA: Not applicable.