Gastric Juice as a Diagnostic Sample

Gastric juice is a digestive fluid formed in the stomach and is composed of hydrochloric acid (HCl), potassium chloride (KCl) and sodium chloride (NaCl). Gastric juice analysis is performed by measuring and assessing the contents of a fasting patient’s stomach for acidity, appearance and volume; results from this test may help evaluate suspected peptic ulcer, severe gastritis, Zollinger-Ellison (Z-E) syndrome, H pylori and gastric cancer. However, X-rays and other studies are recommended for definitive diagnosis. Gastric analysis requires very complex procedures, especially the insertion of a nasogastric tube to extract gastric contents, which has reduced its adoption rate in modern medicine. Gastric fluid is evaluated macroscopically for general physical and chemical characteristics such as color, presence of mucus or blood, and pH; gastric fluid is also evaluated microscopically for the presence of organisms and abnormal cells. The normal appearance of gastric fluid is a translucent, pale gray, slightly viscous fluid containing some mucus but not usually blood. pH is usually less than 2 and not greater than 6. To fully harness the potentials of gastric juice in clinical practice, the development of a simpler method of extracting gastric juice sample for diagnostic use will be welcomed; while this is unrealistic for the moment, further and advance training of clinicians and laboratory scientists on the extraction of gastric juice is pertinent.