Barium Swallow vs. Gastrografin

[Dimoak]

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Hey all, I just decided to throw in a small clinical discussion, and this is something that it seems has been discussed quite often around the world. So I was just wondering which you/your institutions preferred and why, in terms of overall safety for the patient and regard by other departments. 🙂

 

[Hard24Get]

Hey all, I just decided to throw in a small clinical discussion, and this is something that it seems has been discussed quite often around the world. So I was just wondering which you/your institutions preferred and why, in terms of overall safety for the patient and regard by other departments. 🙂

We do Gastrograffin 1st if perf/tear is suspected, then if it is negative we do Barium swallow since it has greater sensitivity but more morbidity if the leak is large. I was under the impression this was standard "textbook" practice?

 

[eddieberetta]

We do Gastrograffin 1st if perf/tear is suspected, then if it is negative we do Barium swallow since it has greater sensitivity but more morbidity if the leak is large. I was under the impression this was standard "textbook" practice?

Most radiologists will do what you just described. Often the barium does not add much so sometimes we skip it, if the patient has taken good swallows.

What is unclear to me is the role of barium paste / CT...