Surface electrogastrography (EGG) is a non-invasive method for clinical assessment of gastric myoelectrical activity. Different forms of general anaesthesia might have various effects on porcine EGG.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of different anaesthetic agents on EGG in experimental pigs.All changes of porcine gastric myoelectric activity assessed by the dominant frequency of slow waves during EGG remained within the normal range although some of them achieved statistical significance. Thus all tested agents used for general anaesthesia can be recommended in preclinical studies with porcine models focused on gastric myoelectric activity without any risk of compromising the results.
Thiopental seems to be the most suitable as it did not cause any changes at all.