This is a test to see how effective the oesophagus (swallowing tube) is at moving food and liquid from the mouth to the stomach. It is particularly useful in children who are getting food "stuck" in the oesophagus after swallowing.

A slender flexible tube is placed into the nose and down to the stomach.  The tube is usually placed with your child under sedation (medicine is given to make the child relaxed but not completely out to sleep).  Your child will then sip a small amount of liquid or eat a small amount of food.  The manometer measures how the oesophagus muscles are able to push liquid or food down.

It takes 10-20 minutes to complete the test, although the child will need to stay longer to allow the sedation to wear off before going home.