Utilization of Milk as an Oral Contrast Agent in CT Scan of the Abdomen

Asma Badawood¹, Nisreen Alsioufi², Samar Fathuddin², Nabeel Mishah², Saddiq Jastaniah¹

¹Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, KSA.
²Radiology Department, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, KSA.

DOI: 10.4236/act.2015.43005                

Abstract

The present study aimed to evaluate using the whole milk as alternative oral contrast for the as-sessment of gastrointestinal CT enterography. Fifty patients undergo (18 female and 32 male) aged from 21 to 79 years (mean 45 years) undergo abdominal CT at the department of diagnostic radiology of King Abdulaziz University Hospital. They receive 1 - 1.5 liter whole milk. Siemens SOMATOM definition CT Scan Machine with 64 slices and dual source was utilized to image all pa-tients in research population group where iodinated oral contrast media was replaced by a whole milk available in the local market. Patients were scanned as per the routine protocol used for CT Abdomen at KAUH-CT Unit: Helical Mode with 0.7 Pitch was performed on all paints in supine po-sition using a 16-detector row scanner (Bright Speed S, General Electric-Milwaukee Wisconsin, USA). The following parameters were applied: collimation of 16 × 0.625 (1.25 - 3.75) mm, pitch of 3, Slice thickness: 5 mm, gantry rotation time of 400 mAs, tube voltage of 120 KV and scan time 11.05 second. The images of all cases were reviewed by two qualified radiologists. Conclusion: The present study suggested that whole milk was found to be an effective alternative negative contrast for the assessment of the jejunum, ileum and terminal ileum in CT enterography. It was excellent for gastric imaging and we recommended replacing milk as negative oral contrast since it is available and cost effective. Further research to be conducted with modified milk drinking timing for better large bowel distention.

Keywords

CT, Contrast Media, Milk, Abdomen, Bowl, Stomach

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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