This study was designed to determine the effects of different anaesthesia on the postoperative gastrointestinal motility after cholecystectomy. Postoperative gastrointestinal motility were recorded continuously by means of gastrointestinal manometry in 20 patients subject to cholecystectomy (general anaesthesia 10, epidural anaesthesia 10). Normal migrating motor complex (MMC) was abolished during the early postoperative period in all patients. The time of reappearance of intestinal MMC varied from 0.5 to 2 hours . Gastric MMC recurred 5.5 to 14 hours postoperatively and the normal MMC completely recovered 22 to 43 hours after the operations. Ingestion of food changed the MMC into a fed pattern during the early postoperative period. There was no difference between the general anaesthesia group and epidural anaesthesia group in terms of gastrointestinal motility. The results indicate that postoperative gastrointestinal motility recovers faster than that was thought conventionally. Cholecystectomy under general anaesthesia or under epidural anaesthesia makes no difference in postoperative gastrointestinal motility.
