X-ray of the stomach is a fairly common diagnostic method in medical practice. It is this study that helps to identify many diseases and functional disorders: neoplasms (benign and malignant), peptic ulcers, protrusion of the walls of the organ.
X-ray of the stomach provides an opportunity to find out the size, shape, position of the organ and its departments, assess the condition and integrity of the walls, determine the capabilities of the sphincters (circular muscles that are in the walls of the stomach and separate the organ from the esophageal cavity when compressed). There may be several reasons for the doctor to refer you to such a study:
- predisposition to tumor diseases;
- suspected peptic ulcer;
- malformations of the stomach;
- diverticulum (deformation of the walls of the stomach);
- inflammatory processes;
- swallowing disorder;
- pain in the navel area;
- blood in feces;
- unreasonable burping and weight loss.
Contraindications for examination
If there are reasons why the patientfluoroscopy and radiography of the stomach will be harmful, more gentle methods are chosen for examination, for example, fibrogastroscopy. The indications for choosing this procedure are as follows:
- serious condition;
- pregnancy (especially in the first trimester);
- bleeding (gastric and intestinal).
How is a stomach x-ray done?
This research method is carried out using contrasting. Our stomach is a hollow organ, and to obtain an image, we have to fill it with a special substance (barium s alts), which does not transmit x-rays. Also, radiography of the stomach can be carried out using the double contrast method, when air (under pressure) is introduced into the stomach along with s alts. This makes it possible to expand, slightly enlarge the stomach and fill all the folds of the mucosa with a contrast agent. This improves the quality of the diagnosis. Next, the image of the filled organ will be projected onto the screen. The first thing specialists do is an x-ray of the abdominal cavity. This allows you to identify a gross pathology, and after taking the contrast, pictures are taken in different positions (on the back, on the side, standing). Fluoroscopy of the stomach is also performed during the examination of the gastrointestinal tract.
How to prepare for the procedure?
There are no particularly strict rules. If you do not have problems with the functions of the stomach and intestines, then the only condition is the ban on eating six or eight hours before the examination. Patients atwho have pathologies, it is recommended to go on a diet three days before the procedure. You need to exclude the use of dairy products, sweets, carbonated drinks, cabbage. This is necessary to reduce gas formation. In the diet you can include lean meat, eggs, fish, some cereals that need to be boiled in water. If you have increased flatulence or constipation, then you will be given a cleansing enema and gastric lavage. Specialists who conduct examinations of the gastrointestinal tract are a gastroenterologist, a diagnostician, a radiologist and an ultrasound doctor.
