1.   The six children with no colonic contractions had a hollow visceral myopathy and constipation.

2.   In the children with colonic contractions, fasting motility did not differentiate children with and without constipation.

3.   Patterns of colonic motor contractions were identified visually.

4.   Movement artefacts gave rapid fluctuations that occurred simultaneously at all recording sites and were easily differentiated from colonic contractions and discarded from analysis.

5.   Twenty two patients had colonic contractions during fasting and after the meal.