Assessment of the double contrast barium meal: method and application.

A method of assessing and comparing double contrast barium meals has been devised. The use of the linear analogue scale has been found to be a consistent method of recording and measuring radiological impression of mucosal coating and gaseous distension. By this means the effectiveness of various currently available barium and gas preparations has been assessed in 125 patients. Appreciable differences in mucosal coating achieved by different barium preparations were detected. Satisfactory gaseous distension of the stomach and duodenum was produced in the majority of patients by all of the methods tested, and the following measurements are suggested as an index of good distension: gastric fundus 10 cm, gastric midbody 7 cm, duodenal loop 4 cm. The relationships between mucosal coating, gaseous distension and areae gastricae have been shown to be tenuous. It is suggested that the methods we have used are very suitable for repetition in other centres for the comparison of any of the many barium and gas-producing agents which continue to come on to the market.