Guest guest Posted December 9, 2008 Report Share Posted December 9, 2008 Just a little more clarification: I am a radilogic technologist who has worked in the field for 32 years. If an upper GI series is ordered this is a test where you will be given a cup or 2 of barium to drink. The radiologist will watch you drink this barium and follow it from your esophagus to your stomach while the radioligist will be taking a series of x-rays while you are drinking. They may take pictures of your esophagus while you are swallowing the barium but it is not considered a swallowing test. They are basically looking for reflux when they do this. In know way is it monitoring your swallowing capabilities. On the other hand the lower GI also know as a Barium Enemea is looking at your colon. An enema tip is place in your rectum and then your colon is filled with barium and we (the doctor and the x-ray tech) roll you in a lot of positions on the x-ray table and take a lot of different x-rays. We then empty the barium by letting it drain out of the enema tip and back into the barium bag. You then go into the bathroom to empty the rest and then we take an additional 2 or three x-rays. During both of these tests you are WIDE AWAKE, can fully cooperate, talk and ask questions! I hope this helps. I know someitmes the wording of tests gets confusing but in every hospital that I have ever been in, an Uppper GI and Barium Enema have all been performed the same way. An enodoscopy is the test where you are put in " twilight " . You can have an endoscopy of either the upper or lower parts of your GI system, but this is TOTALLY different that an upper GI or lower GI that involves barium. Kathy-mom to Kerri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.