darmpassage

Darmpassage, or intestinal transit, describes the movement of ingested material through the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus. In German medical usage the term can encompass the entire journey through the gut or, more often, refer to colonic transit. Clinically it is common to quantify whole-gut transit time and to consider gastric emptying and small intestinal transit as subcomponents.

Transit rate is determined by neural, hormonal, and muscular activity of the gastrointestinal tract and is influenced by diet (fat and fiber content, fluid intake), hydration, physical activity, circadian rhythms, and medications. It slows with opioids, anticholinergics, and many systemic diseases (diabetes with autonomic neuropathy, hypothyroidism, scleroderma); it speeds with laxatives, prokinetic drugs, and caffeine.

Assessment methods include radiopaque marker tests, radioisotope scintigraphy, and wireless motility capsule monitoring; breath tests are used for absorption studies rather than transit. Typical measurements report time to passage through stomach (gastric emptying), small intestine (small-bowel transit), and colon (colonic transit).

Clinical issues arise when transit is too slow (constipation, functional or slow-transit constipation), too fast (diarrhea-predominant conditions, or rapid colonic transit), or interrupted by ileus after surgery or severe illness. Understanding transit helps diagnose disorders such as chronic constipation, irritable bowel syndrome with constipation or diarrhea, and neuroendocrine or metabolic diseases.

Healthy transit times vary widely between individuals and measurement methods. Rough approximate ranges: gastric emptying occurs within 1–4 hours after a meal; small intestinal transit a few hours; colonic transit commonly 12–48 hours; whole-gut transit often 24–72 hours. Variability is high, and lifestyle and medications should be considered in interpretation.