Mre and milk

[my little penguin]

Has anyone tried to get their radiologist to use milk instead of barium for an mre ?
How were the results ...?

 

[FrozenGirl]

I wish I would have had this option. The drink made me so sick afterwards. Lots of D and pain. And I didn't even make it throught the 2L, just 1. I hope we can hear from someone whose done it.

 

[Momtotwo]

Didn't ask about milk,but I did not have success getting our radiologist to deviate from their protocol AT ALL. They would not allow us to use any flavoring other than the choc or strawberry syrup provided by them. Other centers are more flexible with the flavoring, solutions, etc. Definitely ask far in advance. My son would not drink the flavored Volumen. I believe it would have been more compliant if he had a choice of a flavor he liked. I am going elsewhere next time. (My son ended up with a nasogastric tube)

 

[my little penguin]

We used single Kool aid packets in the past

 

[Momtotwo]

I remember that, and you suggested it for my son. But they would not allow us "to deviate from protocol" in exact words. Not the most child-friendly experience. I encourage all parents to ask a lot of questions and choose hospitals carefully.

 

[CrohnsKidMom]

I had no idea milk could be an option! Would have made things a lot easier!

 

[DustyKat]

Neutral intraluminal contrast:

® Contrast agents that have an intermediate density (10-30 HU). They are used with increasing frequency.

® With IV contrast, they provide very good display of the bowel wall and thus better visualization of the enhancing bowel wall is obtained.

® The most widely used neutral oral contrast agent is water. it is inexpensive and universally available and well tolerated but water alone is not an ideal contrast agent, because it is absorbed early in the gastrointestinal system and is not available in the mid and distal section of the small bowel so it does not always result in optimal distention of the distal small bowel. The administration of agents such as Glucagon may improve distension but is not routinely done.

® To overcome early absorption of water as a neutral contrast agent, additives that increase the osmolarity of the water are used without changing the contrast characteristics. Mannitol or other long- chain sugars can be used. The adverse effects of these additives are nausea and diarrhea.

® A newly introduced neutral oral contrast agent (VoLumen) is used which is based in oral barium sulfate solutions containing all the additives but with only 0.1 % of barium sulfate. With such a low concentration of barium it has no possible contrast effect in MDCT and even though containing barium, it is considered a neutral contrast agent. Compared with water or meglumine diatrizoate, this contrast agent creates for better distension and the display of the bowel wall is very clear compared with these intraluminal contrast agents.

® Milk has been used by some groups in order to distend the small bowel in patients undergoing CT angiography. Whole milk has a CT density similar to water, but has a slower small bowel transit time and should therefore result in better distention of the bowel.

Source: This was lifted from a PDF slide show: MDCT as a Diagnostic Tool in Evaluating Small Bowel Disorders.