Mass Movements (Mass Peristalsis) and Diverticular Disease of the Colon

Abstract

The appearance and behaviour of the stripping wave as seen in routine barium enema examinations are compared with the accounts in the literature of normal peristalsis of the colon originally described by Holzknecht (1910). The two are so similar that it is reasonable to regard the response of diseased colon to the stripping wave as a reliable indicator of response to normal peristalsis. Examples have been collected in which radiological strictures of the sigmoid colon in diverticular disease relax in part or in total to the dilatation of the stripping wave, and hence to normal peristalsis in daily living, an observation allowing a more satisfactory correlation of the radiographs with the clinical behaviour of the patient. Some third class physiological information is included as an aid to planning an adequate study.