Opinion Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2019. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Dec 28, 2019; 25(48): 6880-6889
Published online Dec 28, 2019. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v25.i48.6880
Gastric electrical stimulation: An emerging therapy for children with intractable gastroparesis
Aniruddh Setya, Priyanka Nair, Sam Xianjun Cheng
Aniruddh Setya, Priyanka Nair, Sam Xianjun Cheng, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, United States
Author contributions: All authors equally contributed to this paper with conception and design of the study, literature review and analysis, drafting and critical revision and editing, and final approval of the final version.
Conflict-of-interest statement: No potential conflicts of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Sam Xianjun Cheng, MD, MSc, PhD, Assistant Professor, Doctor, Department of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, University of Florida, 1600 SW Archer Road, HD 600, Gainesville, FL 32610, United States. sam.cheng@ufl.edu
Received: September 27, 2019
Peer-review started: September 24, 2019
First decision: December 5, 2019
Revised: December 13, 2019
Accepted: December 21, 2019
Article in press: December 22, 2019
Published online: December 28, 2019
Processing time: 94 Days and 17 Hours
Core Tip

Core tip: Gastric Electrical Stimulation is an effective, safe and feasible therapy for pediatric patients with symptoms of intractable nausea and vomiting due to medically refractive gastroparesis. It works through the use of microelectrodes to deliver high-frequency low energy electric stimulation to the pacemaker area of the stomach. Even though the mechanism is not completely understood, it provides a “bridge” before radical surgical options and can potentially lead to an improved quality of life by helping in weaning off medications and reducing hospitalizations.