MRE next week- need help with Contrast

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Daltonsmom

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Apr 16, 2014
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My son (13) with Crohn's Disease needs to have an MRI and MRE of his abdomen and pelvis in two weeks. This will be our third attempt. The first MRI we tried, he ended up in the ER with severe vomiting. The second MRI we tried ( a few weeks ago) caused him to vomit again just not as severely. They want to try again on December 30th....and they want to slow down the rate that he drinks the contrast.

In the two previous attempts, they wanted 64oz of contrast material to be consumed in 2 hours. This time we are trying to have him drink it over a 4 hour period. He will be getting Remicade also on that day, so he will have an IV in place. I was thinking about asking for Zofran in his IV to help settle his tummy.

Anyone have advice on how to drink the contrast for the MRI with a better outcome? Any ideas are welcomed.
 
Sorry, my son also vomited with the contrast and I thought there was no way they were going to be able to do the MRE as he had only drank 1/2 of the amount in the allotted time and seemed to throw most of it up. The radiologist decided to go ahead and try and he had enough that they were able to do the MRE.
Someone also just posted a study on using whole milk as a contrast.
http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=58353&page=2 post #41 link to study in post #42
 
Hello
I have had two and both times only probably drank half of the liquid (one out of two litres) and both MRI's worked fine.
The second time I drank it with a straw and also did it on an empty stomach, early in the morning. I tried to drink as much if it as possible in the first 30-45 minutes.
I hope your son manages to cope with it this time and I would ask if there is an anti-vomiting med he can take beforehand.
Take care and good luck.
 
This suggestion may not be feasible for your son but would your son consider using an NG tube to take in the formula? Thinking back, I'm certain my son did it through an NG tube the first time he did it... but, in my son's case, he was comfortable with using an NG tube because he was inserting daily anyway for EN.

It may not stop cramping, bloating but, if it's the taste/texture, the NG tube would eliminate that problem.

:ghug:
 
I actually asked about using an NG tube for the contrast. His GI said we could go that route if he can't keep the contrast down this try. He suffers so much already with pain and discomfort, I hate that we are adding to his misery but making him try again and again.

You would think someone could invent something that tastes better, and is not as gross to drink.....sorry just venting:frown:
 
My daughter recently had an MRE with oral contrast. They also did the rectal and Iv contrast at the same time. I like the idea of an anti nausea med. She used a straw to help get it down. The child - life staffer gave her a strongly fruit flavored lollipop to lick between swallows. It helped to minimize the gag-reflex. She started vomiting about 3/4th done with contrast. The radiologist then took a quick series of images in the tube and decided she had enough for full set of images.

Good luck!
 
Thanks for the information. If he starts vomiting again, maybe I will ask to see if he has enough contrast left in his abdomen to complete the test. And I will try the lollypop idea too :ysmile:
 
We've done it both ways, drinking and through the ng tube. C prefers the ng tube but the last time he drank they also gave him a lollipop and it said it helped some.
 
My son tries to drink, but always ends up with an NG tube. Funny thing, he just wrote a paper for English and described his last MRE (only an IBD kid would do this!) and his conclusion was that, as much as he hated it, he's just going straight for the NG tube next time.

I'm all for NG tubes. I'm tired of getting vomited on, they are able to get enough contrast in, and it goes faster.
 
My 10 yr old son had a MRE about 3 weeks ago. A straw helps to bypass some of the tastebuds, and my son was allowed to pick from several Mio water flavourings. Both of these things helped, but he still vomited a lot of it back up. They decided to go ahead with the MRE anyway, and fortunately he kept enough of the contrast down for them to get good pictures. Good luck!
 
I would definitely ask for some Zofran beforehand. That's what I usually do and that prevents me from vomiting up the contrast, although I do still get quite nauseous and crampy.
 
My son had an MRe at 10. He is a very stoic kid, so when he teared up and said he couldn't drink it all, I took him seriously. The nurse told me it was the same dose for the 300 pound man also waiting. I asked if we could try it with half. It worked fine.
 
We've had luck with the NG tube also. But we would put it in slowly. The full feeling of the contrast made his tummy feel weird. (so problem is not just the taste). Last MRE they used a tasteless Metamucil type stuff with Gatorade (flavor of his choice). Walking around while drinking it with a straw helped. Up at Mayo they use the 64 oz contrast stuff and we have to do it NG tube style. I didn't think the stuff tasted that bad (weak blueberry) but my son told me that my taste buds are "Old and not working!!!" Actually, I think he's right that we have far less taste buds than a young kid!! :) And as I said earlier.. I really think it's the full feeling along with being in a flare that is the bigger issue with the vomiting it up.
 
Dalton had the flu and an upper respiratory infection over Christmas break. He was finally able to have his Remicade treatment and his MRE on January 8th. The radiologist was not interested in us using milk as a contrast.....and he had to drink the nasty tasting drink they provided.

He was able to choke down the contrast and complete the test.....now just waiting on the results.

I hope to hear something today or tomorrow.

thanks for the advice !
 
T has her first MRE this Wednesday night. They told us no food or drink for 4 hours before. The scheduler said they like them to come hungry. Was anyone else told that? Does it make it easier on their stomach?
 
Yes we were told that, Jack had early morning so just got up and went. I don't think it made it any easier on his tummy judging by how much he was puking but who knows. Good luck, keeping fingers and toes crossed that it is smooth sailing.
 
Yeah the ibd nurse said it would be six but then when imaging called they said 4. Hmmm maybe I will do 6 anyway just to be safe. But her test is at 9 at night. Won't get out of there till 10:30. Poor thing. There will be no place open to eat. Her last meal would have been school lunch at 11:30. Oh well. Not like she is a big eater these days anyway
 
We were told 6 by the radiology dept .
Ds has his early in the am so it will be closer to 12 or more hours
Just skipping breakfast .
 
Darn! I was hoping the fasting trick was something new our hospital discovered to make it easier.
 

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