Figure 7 - Demonstration of deglutitive inhibition in human esophagus.

In these studies intraesophageal pressure was artificially raised by inflating an intraluminally placed balloon, and esophageal responses to swallows were studied. In the left panel the balloon is 13 cm above the LES, and in the right panel the balloon is 8 cm above the LES. Swallows caused a fall in the artificially elevated esophageal pressures that were followed by peristaltic contraction. Note that the duration of swallow-induced fall in pressure at 13 cm is shorter than that at 8 cm. These studies show that the latency period before the onset of the peristalsis is in fact a period of inhibition, and that there is a gradient of increasing duration of deglutitive inhibition distally along the esophagus. (Source: Sifrim D, Janssens , Vantrappen G. A wave of inhibition precedes primary peristaltic contractions in the human esophagus. Gastroenterology 1992;103(3):876–882, with permission from the American Gastroenterological Association.)