Gastrointestinal Motility and Physiology Center

Gastrointestinal (GI) motility refers to the movement of food from the mouth through the pharynx (throat), esophagus, stomach, small and large intestine and out of the body. The GI system is responsible for digestion. From the moment you look at food, the body begins this complicated process.

UC San Diego Health System’s GI Motility and Physiology Center is led by Ravinder Mittal, MD, a national and international leader in GI motility clinical care and research. Specialists at the center identify and address conditions related to the body’s movement of food through the gastrointestinal system. Our dedication to research in GI motility enables us to provide new, leading edge developments in diagnostic technologies and clinical therapies for these disorders.

Read more about the conditions we address at the Gastrointestinal Motility and Physiology Center below.

Conditions

Esophageal Motility

The GI Motility Center works with people who experience difficulty swallowing (called dysphasia), angina-like pain (discomfort in the chest), and persistent heartburn. These symptoms are frequently presented in people with esophageal motility disorders such as

• Achalasia
• Barrett’s esophagus
• Esophageal diverticula
• Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
• Hiatal hernia
• Nutcracker esophagus
• Diffuse esophageal spasm

We work closely with UC San Diego Health System’s minimally invasive and robot-assisted surgery teams to treat disorders of esophagus. 

Gastric Motility

Moving through the gastrointestinal system to the stomach, a new set of disorders presents itself causing nausea, vomiting, bloating, upper abdominal pain, distention and upset stomach. These symptoms relate to gastric (stomach) motility disorders such as:

• Gastroparesis or delayed gastric emptying
• Rapid gastric emptying
• Idiopathic vomiting
• Functional dyspepsia

Intestinal Motility

From the stomach, food passes to the small and large intestine. The small intestine can be a challenging area of the body to see for clear diagnosis. Smart capsule technology is changing the course of intestinal diagnoses – with advanced measuring capability of the rate of muscle contractions through the small bowel and gut transit time. Disorders of this region include ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease – the primary forms of inflammatory bowel disease. UC San Diego Health System’s GI Motility and Physiology Center collaborates with the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center to diagnose and treat these conditions. 

Pelvic Floor Disorders

Finally, the GI Motility Center diagnoses, treats and researches pelvic floor disorders such as fecal incontinence, constipation and anal sphincter dysfunction. With careful examination, and collaboration with colorectal surgeons and the Women’s Pelvic Medicine Center, our specialists provide advanced comprehensive care. Where indicated, the GI Motility Center makes use of biofeedback therapy in addition to medication and surgical treatments for these disorders. 

Diagnostic Testing

We provide state-of-the art diagnostic tests to evaluate GI digestive system disorders relating to motility. These tests include esophageal pH monitoring with bravo system, high resolution esophageal manometry, high definition anal manometry, hydrogen breath testing, testing for lactose intolerance and other intolerances, H-pylori testing, gastric emptying, colon transit study and 3D ultrasound imaging of anal sphincter. Read more about motility procedures.

Research

The specialists at the GI Motility and Physiology Center are involved in numerous research studies to improve the detection and treatment of motility disorders. Our research is focused on two areas:

• Esophageal motility and pain
• Pelvic floor disorders as they relate to fecal incontinence and constipation 

 Scientific Articles in GI Motility

View titles and abstracts of scientific articles at PubMed written by UC San Diego Health System GI motility specialists. Read more about research and clinical trials.