ABSTRACT
Optimal opacification of the small bowel is important in the interpretation of abdominal CT. Two contrast agents, a barium suspension and an iodinated, water-soluble material, were evaluated in a blind prospective study of 54 patients. A grading system of small bowel opacification was developed. There was no significant difference between the two agents in opacification of the small bowel.
Subject(s)
Diatrizoate Meglumine/administration & dosage , Diatrizoate/analogs & derivatives , Intestine, Small/diagnostic imaging , Tomography, X-Ray Computed , Humans , Radiography, AbdominalABSTRACT
The initial clinical presentation of intraabdominal disease can be in an extraabdominal location. This phenomenon most commonly occurs in the setting of bowel perforation secondary to diverticulitis, appendicitis, or carcinoma, with resultant spread of infection caudal to the abdomen. Hematomas and pancreatic fluid collections may also dissect out of the abdomen. The spread of these disease processes is likely to occur in a predictable fashion along anatomic tissue planes. Computed tomography (CT) is well suited to demonstrate the extraabdominal site of disease, the pathway of spread from the abdomen, and the occult intraabdominal process. We describe four such cases in which CT was useful and discuss the anatomic pathways involved.
