The Great Debate
Jul 1st, 2008 at 7:38 am by Susie
Just thinking about drinking this barium makes me want to hurl. Which leads me to this:
An item commonly found in many homes – whole milk – is just as effective, costs less and is easier on the patient than a diluted (0.1%) barium suspension that is also commonly used as an oral contrast agent in conjunction with CT to examine the gastrointestinal tract, a new study finds.
The study included 215 patients undergoing abdominal and pelvic CT, said Chi Wan Koo, MD, lead author of the study. All patients were given an IV contrast media; 115 were also given whole milk as an oral contrast agent; 100 received a 0.1% barium suspension. Two radiologists reviewed all the images and scored them based on degree of bowel distension and bowel wall visibility. Adequate bowel distension is necessary to optimize resolution of the bowel wall and contents, said Dr. Koo.
The study found that the images taken of patients who were given whole milk were just as useful as the images that were taken of patients given the diluted barium, she said.
In addition, patients were given a questionnaire, asking them how well they tolerated the oral contrast agents, and a cost comparison was done. “We found that milk was less expensive, it had better patient acceptance and fewer adverse symptoms,” Dr. Koo said.
Whole milk and 0.1% barium suspension are valuable in the diagnosis of small bowel disorders, such as ischemia, neoplasm and Crohn’s disease, said Dr. Koo. They are also useful in evaluating pancreatic and biliary abnormalities.
So naturally, I’m leaning toward substituting my own medical opinion for that of the imaging center protocol. Except, you know, that I don’t know about any limitations on the milk images and I’d sure as hell hate to go through this all over again. Hmm.
I’d be really tempted to drink the milk instead … what’s the CAT scan for?
I really, really dislike drinking milk. Maybe some borderline lactose intolerance, more likely just personal taste. Now, if they said “eat a quart of Basset’s ice cream”, then I’m on it.
Does the barium come in tangy fruit flavors?
I did barium once or twice and it wasn’t that bad. Sort of like Milk of Magnesia. I’ve had intestinal problems all my life (both parents died eventually from intestinal cancer) and there have been more degrading things I’ve had to do. But I like to remember that all things (except death) are temporary, and you can put up with anything as long as you remember that it’s temporary, and better yet, if you know ‘how’ temporary.
Why don’t people in the writing business know that media is plural?
(Of course, they don’t know that data and criteria are plural, either.)