Small bowel follow through

[robert.k]

I have a small bowel follow through scheduled early tomorrow morning, and have been fasting on clear liquids all day, and laxatives. Not fun.

I'm doing some online research, but which of you out there have had these procedure done? I'm reading that it's a time-consuming process.

My questions:

How long does it take? How bad does the barium drink taste? What's the purpose/what are they trying to find?

 

[robert.k]

Oh, I forgot to ask, for those who have had this examination performed, what was revealed and what did you doctor recommend based on the findings? Don't think I'm obsessively worrying about this test, I know it's no big deal, I'm just very curious to read about other forum members' experiences.

 

[carolinajak]

not sure of the specific procedure, but when i had the barium drink it wasnt that bad at all. all i had afterward were several x-rays and an MRI (i think, something like that). it ultimately led to emergency surgery for me. but this was an extreme situation. i was dying at the time and was in the worse pain of my life, hence i hope my example doesnt scare you. sounds like a normal procedure for you. the clear liquids/fasting/cleansing isn't that bad. it definitely restricts your life for a good 12-24 hours. i just sequester myself and do a lot of writing/blogging/surfing. its the most production I can muster while in the process. good luck and try to take everything in stride. the best thing i can suggest when going through these processes and testing is to ask everyone from the nurse to the doctor to the specialist as many questions as possible. its the best way to increase your education and comfort level.

 

[robert.k]

Thanks for the info, I'm going to leave to go to the hospital for my small bowel follow through in about 30 minutes. From what I can gather online, the procedure is used to give imagery of the small bowel. I guess they're looking for obstructions/blockages/twisting, and maybe they can also detect thinning of the intestinal lining and/or narrowing of the intestine. Possibly also lesions/wounds, as well.

I have a feeling it will be a long procedure. Obviously it'll be painless, but I'm just so hungry. Ah well, it'll all be over pretty soon, I guess.

 

[ruthymg]

Hi Robert, I hope everything went ok for you. I thought you may want to compare experiences so I am still going to write mine. By a small bowel follow through, do you mean a barium meal? because if you do, I've had one of those. They placed a pipe up my nose and down my throat and then injected a fluid through the pipe which contained dye. They kept on filling my small bowel up with this substance until it became too uncomfortable to give me anymore and then they took xrays of my small bowel. I found the whole procedure quite uncomfortable as I was in a lot of pain with my symptoms at that time. But the test was successful and showed ulceration and narrowing and swelling so it was worth it as it confirmed that I had crohns.


Ruth

 

[robert.k]

Hi Ruth!

Well, I had that same procedure done this morning, however the white-ish barium drink was administered differently. I simply drank two cups of it! Not the tastiest thing in the world, but not the worst thing, either. I found the laxative drinks I consumed during the preparation for this procedure to be more disagreeable than the barium drink, itself.

Well, I'll simply sit tight for my gastroenterologistto call me back with the results. All in all, from signing in to the procedure to changing into those ridiculous patient gowns, to drinking the drinks to getting examined and then changing back into my original clothing, it took about 45 minutes.

The barium drink flowed through me very quickly, the radiologist told me.

 

[carolinajak]

Sounds like a pretty easy experience. Good luck with the results.

 

[ruthymg]

Hope all is well with your results Robert.


Ruth

 

[Mazen]

Hi. I had it twice. Basically they make you drink barium shakes every now and then and take X-rays of your abdomin every 15 minutes. I guess the whole process takes about 2 hours, maybe more.

For me it was used to make a final diagnosis of crohn's as they couldn't reach my ileum through colonoscopy. It showed inflammation in the ileum with granual appearance (supposadly a sign of crohn's) and a blind fistula....

Good luck...