Do gastrointestinal transit times and colonic dimensions change with time since spinal cord injury?

Study design: Long-term follow-up study. Objectives: To determine whether gastrointestinal transit times (GITTs) and colonic dimensions change during the first or subsequent decades after spinal cord injury (SCI). Setting: Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark. Methods: GITT and colonic dimensions were evaluated by means of radio-opaque markers. Group A ( n =12) was investigated 1 year after SCI and again 13 (range 11–14) years later. Group B ( n =10) was studied 19 (range 9–36) years after injury and again 12 (range 11–12) years later. All had been treated with conservative bowel management. Results: In group A, the median GITT 1 year after injury was 4.3 (range 1.1–6.5) days and 13 years later, it was 3.2 (range 1.3–6.5) days, P =0.96. In group B, the median GITT 19 year after injury was 3.4 (range 0.6–5.9) days and 12 years later, it was 3.2 (range 1.9–5.5) days, P =0.77. None of the two groups experienced a significant change in the diameter of the caecum/ascending colon, transverse colon, descending colon or the sigmoid during long-term follow-up. Megacolon was present in four patients at baseline and in five at follow-up. Conclusion: GITTs and colonic dimensions did not change, neither during the first decade nor long after SCI.