Barium meal or endoscopy: a comparative review of patients with upper gastrointestinal complaints

ABSTRACT

For patients with upper gastrointestinal complaints, attending physicians are almost always considering which would be the best investigation for the diagnosis and management. To address this problem a recent study at the Aga Khan University Hospital involving 23 patients suggested upper G.l endoscopy to be superior than barium meal examination, because the bulk of the problem involves conditions like reflux oesophagitis, gastritis and duodenitis. Barium meal if done accurately is quite appropriate for the diagnosis of gastric or duodenal ulcer, however, endoscopy would have the advantage of biopsy and therapeutic procedures for bleeding ulcers and other bleeding lesions