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Results
The images are analysed to calculate how much of the meal remains at each time. A report is usually sent to your doctor within a few days. Your doctor will explain whether emptying is normal, slow or fast, and discuss what this means for your treatment.
This article is educational and does not replace your doctor's advice. Seek urgent care for any red-flag symptoms.
What is it?
After you eat, the stomach grinds the food and releases it gradually into the small bowel. In a gastric emptying study (usually a gastric emptying scintigraphy), you eat a small standard meal, such as eggs with toast, that contains a tiny, safe amount of a radioactive marker (a tracer). A special camera (a gamma camera) then takes pictures over several hours to show how much of the meal is still in the stomach at set times. The amount of radiation is small and similar to or less than that of many common X-ray tests. Other methods exist, such as a breath test after eating a special meal or a wireless capsule you swallow, which your centre may use.
Why is it done?
It helps find out whether symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, feeling full quickly, bloating, upper belly pain or sometimes poor sugar control in diabetes are caused by delayed stomach emptying (gastroparesis, where the stomach muscles work poorly), or less often by emptying that is too fast (as in dumping syndrome). The result helps choose the right treatment and avoid treating the wrong problem.
Who needs it?
- People with long-lasting nausea, vomiting, early fullness or bloating when other tests, such as gastroscopy, show no blockage or ulcer
- People with diabetes with persistent upper-gut symptoms or unexplained swings in blood sugar
- People who have had stomach or oesophageal surgery and have fullness, vomiting or dumping symptoms
- People being assessed before certain stomach treatments or procedures
Before the procedure
- You will usually need to fast overnight, or for at least several hours before the meal. Your centre will give exact times.
- Some medicines change how fast the stomach empties and can give a wrong result, such as prokinetic medicines that speed emptying, opioid painkillers, some anti-nausea medicines, anticholinergics, GLP-1 type diabetes injections and others. Your centre will tell you which to stop and for how long. Do not stop any medicine unless told to.
- If you have diabetes, tell the team before the test: your blood sugar needs to be well controlled on the day, and you will need advice on insulin or tablets while fasting. High blood sugar can slow emptying and affect the result.
- Tell the team if you are pregnant or may be pregnant, or are breastfeeding, because the test uses a small amount of radioactivity.
- Tell the team about food allergies, since the standard meal usually contains egg, and about any dietary restrictions. Alternatives can usually be arranged. Stop smoking on the morning of the test if you can, because smoking can affect emptying.
- If you fast for Ramadan, tell the team so the appointment can be set after Ramadan or timed appropriately; the test requires you to eat the meal at the scheduled time.
During the procedure
You eat the small test meal within about ten minutes. Pictures are taken straight afterwards while you stand or lie in front of the camera, which does not touch you and is painless. More pictures are taken at set times, such as after 1, 2 and 4 hours. Between the images you can usually sit, read or walk around, but you should not eat or drink more than allowed. Total time is commonly about four hours, so bring something to do.
After the procedure
You can usually go home, eat normally and return to your usual activities at once. The small amount of radioactivity leaves the body naturally within a day or so, mostly in the stool. Drinking fluids helps. There are usually no special precautions, although the centre may give advice if you are around pregnant women or small babies. Restart any medicines you stopped as instructed.
Risks
- The test is very safe. It involves a small dose of radiation, which is kept as low as possible. It is usually avoided in pregnancy unless clearly necessary.
- Rarely, an allergic reaction to the test meal or tracer
- Some people feel nausea or fullness after eating the meal, especially if they already have those symptoms.
- The result can be wrong if you take medicines that affect emptying, if blood sugar is high, or if you could not finish the meal, so tell the team about any of these.
- The test measures one day and may not match every day; the result must be read together with your symptoms.
When you get results
Alternatives if you decline
Alternatives include a gastric emptying breath test, a wireless motility capsule you swallow, an ultrasound or MRI-based assessment in some centres, and a gastroscopy or barium X-ray to look for blockage or other causes. These may give different information and are not available everywhere. Scintigraphy with a standard meal is the most widely used test. If you decline testing, treatment may be based on symptoms alone, which can miss another cause or lead to the wrong treatment.
Questions to ask your doctor
Save this list or print it before your appointment — doctors appreciate prepared patients.
- Which of my medicines should I stop before the test and for how long?
- How should I manage my diabetes medicines or insulin on the day?
- How long will the test take, and can I eat afterwards?
- Is the radiation safe for me, and do I need precautions at home?
- What treatment options will there be if my stomach empties slowly?
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Status: Approved for publication by SGA; individual clinician review is ongoing · Published 24/04/2026
For general education only; it does not replace your doctor’s advice. Individual clinician review of this guide is ongoing. SGA clinician? Review this guide