Preliminary studies of the gastrointestinal tract with colloidal barium.

A stable colloidal suspension of barium sulfate has been developed and tested in roentgen examination of the gastrointestinal tract. The new material is rather distinctive in radiographic appearance and can usually be differentiated from simple barium-water mixtures by inspection of roentgenograms of the opacified stomach and small intestine. It usually affords a satisfactory demonstration of the mucosal folds of the stomach and duodenal bulb and is considerably more resistant to flocculation and precipitation by retained gastric secretions. In the small intestine, it has little tendency to undergo flocculation and fragmentation, and permits visualization of fine mucosal configurations with unusual clarity. Its motility is about the same as that of conventional suspensions. Air contrast colon examinations with the colloidal preparation exhibit a very uniform, opaque, and stable coating of the bowel wall and are more consistently satisfactory than when simple barium-water mixtures are used.