Background
Orocecal transit time can be used to measure intestinal tract motility. Orocecal transit time measurement can be beneficial in various clinical conditions. This study aims at determining the orocecal transit time in healthy adults at the Cipto Mangunkusumo National Center General Hospital, Jakarta.
Materials and method
The 36 healthy adults in this study were taken from the Cipto Mangunkusumo National Center General Hospital community, Jakarta. Orocecal transit time was determined using the hydrogen breath test using 20 mL of lactulose (13.3 g). After fasting of at least 10 hours, subjects were asked to undergo the hydrogen breath test while fasting for 30 minutes for a total of 3 hours. Increased H2 concentration of equal to or over 10 parts per million from the basal (fasting value) was considered as the point when lactulose reached the caeccum, thus considered as the orocecal transit time. If no H2 increase was found during the evaluation, the subject was considered to have produced no H2.
Results
Out of the 36 study subjects, 31 people (86.1%) produced H2, thus available for orocecal transit time evaluation. The average orocecal transit time from the 31 subjects was 93.9 ± 31.7 minutes. The other five subjects did not have increased H2 concentration in the 3 hours of hydrogen breath test, and thus were considered as non-H2 producers.
Conclusion
The average orocecal transit time from the 31 healthy adults from the Cipto Mangunkusumo National Center General Hospital community was 93.9 ± 31.7 minutes. The hydrogen breath test is an easy, safe, quick, and relatively low-cost method of evaluation that can be clinically applied, even though its specificity and sensitivity varies from one study to another in foreign countries.
