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Medical Aspects of Dietary Fiber pp 27–42Cite as

The Measurement of Intestinal Transit Time

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Part of the book series: Topics in Gastroenterology ((TGEN))

Abstract

Intestinal transit is the phenomenon accomplished by what is at first food, later chyme, and still later feces in making the journey of about one or two days along the alimentary canal. Transit is an important function to study, first because of its relationship to the change from food to chyme; at this stage, digestion is the principal activity affecting intestinal transit, mainly in the small bowel. Second, transit is studied in relation to the production of the formed feces; the retention and the excretory functions of the gut are the activities then under examination. “Intestinal transit” is most often measured as the total intestinal transit time along the whole alimentary tract and as such is mainly a function of propulsion in the small and large intestine. Yet, since there are variable periods of delay in the stomach, cecum, and rectum, such total measurements may be rendered capricious. The contribution of the various sectors of the alimentary tract physiologically to gastrointestinal transit will be summarized first.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Surgery, University of Edinburgh and Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland

    Adam N. Smith

  2. Wolfson Gastrointestinal Laboratories, Gastrointestinal Unit, Department of Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, Scotland

    Martin A. Eastwood

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  1. Adam N. Smith
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  2. Martin A. Eastwood
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Syntex Research, Palo Alto, California, USA

    Gene A. Spiller

  2. University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Ruth McPherson Kay

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© 1980 Plenum Publishing Corporation

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Smith, A.N., Eastwood, M.A. (1980). The Measurement of Intestinal Transit Time. In: Spiller, G.A., Kay, R.M. (eds) Medical Aspects of Dietary Fiber. Topics in Gastroenterology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9176-4_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9176-4_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-9178-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-9176-4

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