BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The first reference to delayed gastric emptying (GE) was made by Grodstein in 1979. Other studies have since been published, not always confirming his work. The importance of GE in anesthesia can be resumed by one of its main aspects, preoperative fasting. Delayed gastric emptying can lead to stasis and increase the risk of vomiting and aspiration. The possibility that uremic patients present delayed gastric emptying is fascinating. Gastric complaints are common in this patient population, and could be explained by the difficulty to empty the stomach. Despite the evidence, there is controversy in the literature regarding this subject. There is no consensus regarding the results. Differences in the methods of the studies could explain the results obtained in clinical and experimental trials. The objective of this study was to review a few important aspects of the dyspeptic syndrome in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF), emphasizing the delayed GE. CONTENTS: The basic aspects of the physiology of GE, methods used more often to study GE, dyspeptic syndrome and uremia, and gastric emptying in chronic renal failure will be discussed. CONCLUSIONS: Gastric emptying is a complex physiological process that transfers food from the stomach to the duodenum, whose mechanisms are yet to be fully characterized. Scintigraphy, using meals with radiolabelled drugs, is the exam used more often to study GE. An expressive percentage of the patients with end-stage renal disease also present delayed GE. 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