Gastric Emptying in Neonates and Infants After Formula Feeding

April 20, 2026 updated by: Lena S. Sun, Columbia University

Gastric Emptying in Pediatric Patients

Ultrasound imaging will be used to evaluate time for gastric emptying in healthy, fasting newborns, and infants following feeding of clear liquids and/or milk (including breast or formula).

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The study involves serial ultrasounds over several visits. Healthy newborns in the Newborn Nursery will be recruited to conduct this study. The study will include a total of 50 healthy newborns who will be given formula feeding of known volume, and then serial ultrasound imaging of gastric antral volume will be performed until gastric emptying.

The study originally was designed to perform follow up of these newborns at two later time intervals (between ages 4-6 months, and 9-12 months). The purpose of follow-up is to evaluate whether there are age-related changes in gastric emptying. Due to the pause/suspension of research activity during the pandemic, these follow up studies of the original newborn cohort could not be completed. The protocol is thus revised as follows:

The study will recruit 50 4-6 months old and 50 9-12months old infants and perform gastric emptying serial ultrasound to evaluate if there are age-related changes in gastric emptying.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Observational

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
210

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New York
      • New York, New York, United States, 10032
        • Recruiting
        • Columbia University Irving Medical Center / NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Lena S. Sun, MD
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

No older than 1 year (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

The study will be performing serial ultrasounds in total of 100 healthy newborns, and 50 4-6 months old and 50 9-12 months old infants.

Description

Inclusion criteria for study cohort are pediatric patients from Allen Hospital and Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York Presbyterian Hospital who are receiving feeding by formula

  1. healthy full-term (postmenstrual age ≥ 36 weeks) newborns aged 0-5 days or
  2. healthy infants (4-6 months old and 9-12 months old)

Exclusion criteria are individuals who have

  1. newborn history of requirement resuscitation at delivery
  2. newborn history of admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
  3. any history of hospital admission
  4. history of gastroesophageal reflux or other feeding difficulty
  5. receiving any medication known to accelerate or delay gastric emptying, including but not limited to opioid-containing medications and antacids.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Observational Models: Cohort
  • Time Perspectives: Prospective

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort

Group / Cohort

A group or subgroup of participants in an observational study that is assessed for biomedical or health outcomes.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Newborn (gastric emptying)
A total of 100 healthy newborns who will be given formula feeding of known volume, and then serial ultrasound imaging of gastric antral volume will be performed until gastric emptying. Follow up of these newborns at two later time intervals will be performed (between ages 4-6 months, and 9-12 months).
Other: Gastric ultrasound
Ultrasound of abdomen to assess antral volume
Infants (4-6mons)
50 Patients will undergowill be given formula feeding of known volume, and then serial ultrasound imaging of gastric antral volume will be performed until gastric emptying.
Infants (9-12 months)
50 Patients will undergowill be given formula feeding of known volume, and then serial ultrasound imaging of gastric antral volume will be performed until gastric emptying.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Gastric Antral Volumes in Newborns
Time Frame: Up to 6 hours
To determine gastric emptying time in newborns, serial gastric antral volumes will be measured before and after formula feeding until return to baseline measurements at 10-15 minute intervals.
Up to 6 hours

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Gastric Antral Volumes in Infants
Time Frame: Up to 6 hours
To determine gastric emptying time in 4-6 months old and 9-12 months old infants. serial gastric antral volumes will be measured before and after formula feeding until return to baseline measurements at 10-15 minute intervals.
Up to 6 hours

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Columbia University

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Lena S. Sun, MD, Columbia University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
March 1, 2016

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
June 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 25, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 25, 2016

First Posted (Estimated)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
January 28, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
April 23, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 20, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • AAAP6304

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Sharing through written communication and request to PI

IPD Sharing Time Frame

Available within 12 months after analysis of results is completed and published.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Upon review and request.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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