Gastric Emptying of Maltodextrin versus Phytoglycogen Carbohydrate Solutions in Healthy Volunteers: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Preoperative carbohydrate beverages have been shown to be beneficial in improving patient outcomes. There have been several investigations into the safety of maltodextrin as a preoperative carbohydrate. Although alternative preoperative carbohydrate sources have been proposed, there have been few investigations into the safety and gastric emptying of novel carbohydrate beverages. The present study aimed to compare the gastric emptying of phytoglycogen and maltodextrin to evaluate safety for use as presurgical carbohydrate beverages. In a quasi-experimental design, ten healthy participants orally consumed either a 12.5% maltodextrin or a 12.5% phytoglycogen solution. Gamma scintigraphy was used to evaluate gastric emptying at baseline at 45, 90, and 120 min. Serum insulin and serum glucose were measured at baseline at 15, 30, 45, 60, 90, and 120 min. Gastric volume was significantly lower in the phytoglycogen group at 45 min (p = 0.01) and 90 min (p = 0.01), but this difference lost significance at 120 min (p = 0.17). There were no significant differences between treatments for serum insulin or serum glucose at any time point. This study indicates that the gastric emptying of phytoglycogen is comparable to maltodextrin at 120 min after ingestion, opening the opportunity for the study of alternative carbohydrates for utilization as preoperative carbohydrates.