Barium follow-through
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Overview
A barium follow-through procedure is a type of medical imaging technique. It is used to evaluate the presence of disease in a person's small intestine.
Examination
The patient drinks a contrast medium containing barium sulphate. This contrast medium appears white on x-rays, and shows the outline of the internal lining of the bowel. X-ray images are taken as the contrast moves through the intestine, commonly at 0 minutes, 20 minutes, 40 minutes and 90 minutes. This enables the radiologist to assess the bowel as it becomes visible. The test is completed when the Barium is visualised in the terminal ileum and Caecum, which marks the beginning of the large bowel. This is one of the most common places for pathology of the bowel to be found, therefore imaging of this structure is crucial. The test length varies from patient to patient as bowel motility is highly variable.
The barium is non-toxic and passed out normally as a stool, although the appearance may be paler than usual.
Pathology
The Barium follow through test is used to diagnose conditions of the small bowel, most commonly Crohn's disease. This shows up as intermitent sections of strictured bowel. Other bowel pathologies which are picked up on this test include:
See also
Acknowledgement and Attribution Regarding Sources of Content
Some of the initial content on this page may be incorporated in part from copyleft sources in the public domain including wikis such as Wikipedia and AskDrWiki. Drug information for patients came from the The National Library of Medicine. Infectious disease information may have come from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Differential Diagnoses are drawn from clinicians as well as an amalgamation of 3 sources: 1.The Disease Database; 2. Kahan, Scott, Smith, Ellen G. In A Page: Signs and Symptoms. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishing, 2004:3; 3. Sailer, Christian, Wasner, Susanne. Differential Diagnosis Pocket. Hermosa Beach, CA: Borm Bruckmeir Publishing LLC, 2002:7 .
