Cant anyone even do a barrium right?

October 12, 2007

Ok well we just got back from having the local hospital do james's 1

year barrium.I thought since it was a fairly simple test it could be

done here instead of driving almost 9 hours to Cleveland,hotel room,

time off from work etc..... IT CANT BE DONE!!!!

These people had no freaking idea what was going on.Dr was clueless

about achalasia.They didnt even do timed barriums.I thought(and I

guess I am wrong for thinking) that barriums were something that was

done pretty regular for gastro patients, acid reflux and so on.I guess

not!

had drunk almost 2 bottles of that stuff and they still were not

done doing the pictures.Finally enough was enough for us, he was ready

to get sick! We said no more cause these test are going to be useless

and have to be done again.they even wanted him to lie down and drink

while they took photos.....what??????NOT A GOOD IDEA WITH A ACHALASIA

PATIENT

jUST Unbelievable!!!!!!

This is just another example that you have to have specialist and I

mean specialist to treat you anymore if you want something done right

Well Thanks for letting me vent.

As far as how things looked...it looked as if he still had some

barrium left in his lower E about a inch or so.Looked like it did in

Cleveland after post op.He did have to empty it out a few times by

doing the burbing air deal.I am just a little concerned though cuase I

have seen him doing that a few times lately.I asked him about it today

and he said sometimes he feels its still there(food as well) and he

just makes it go down quicker so he doesnt have to wait. I have not

noticed this but the past few days and really didnt think much about

it until today when I saw him do it during his barrium test.

Looks like a trip to Cleveland will be coming soon just to get these

test done correctly.I now see why DR Rice did not even want his

barriums done here.

Question>>>How often do the manometry test get done> IS it every 2-3

years? Thats what I thought I recalled them saying.Anyone know or what

has been you alls experience?

THANKS-Tonia

October 12, 2007

That's too bad, Tonia. It is a simple test. Probably showing them

this article from Cleveland Clinic would help:

http://jtcs.ctsnetjournals.org/cgi/content/full/120/5/935

Here's a quote from that article:

" The TBE is a simple test that directly measures liquid

esophageal emptying. It is easy to do, requiring no special

equipment or expertise. Therefore, TBE is repeatable and can be

performed at institutions other than the one at which treatment

was undertaken. "

Simple. Easy. No special equipment or expertise. But of course

they need instructions on how to do it the first time.

Another quote, explaining the procedure:

" While standing, the patient ingested a low-density barium

sulfate suspension (45% weight in volume). Patients were

instructed to drink up to 250 mL within 30 to 45 seconds. ...

With the patient in a slightly left posterior oblique position,

three-on-one spot films (35 x 35 cm) of the esophagus were taken

1, 2, and 5 minutes after the last swallow of barium. ... The

barium ingestion distance from the distal esophagus to the top of

the barium column (barium height) and the maximum diameter of the

barium column (barium width) were calculated. The 1-, 2-, and

5-minute barium heights and widths, as well as changes from 1 to

5 minutes, were used for analysis of the degree of esophageal

emptying and reduction in esophageal diameter. "

Our local radiologist looked at this article and did the test

just fine. (However, the instructions do not mention sticking a

ruler and minute markers onto the screen behind the patient,

although they did that at Cleveland Clinic as part of the test.)

Of course if is having some problems and changes in

symptoms, he might be better off going back to Cleveland Clinic

anyway.

in PA

----- Original Message -----

From: " toniasdogsandi " <toniasdogsandi@...>

> Ok well we just got back from having the local hospital do

> james's 1

> year barrium.I thought since it was a fairly simple test it

> could be

> done here instead of driving almost 9 hours to Cleveland,hotel

> room,

> time off from work etc..... IT CANT BE DONE!!!!

October 13, 2007

wrote:

> ...the instructions do not mention sticking a

> ruler and minute markers onto the screen behind the patient,

> although they did that at Cleveland Clinic as part of the test. ...

This has come up before and I wondered at the need to have a ruler, so I

asked an X-ray tech I know who has been one for about 30 years. She said

it is common to measure the sizes of things in X-rays and often there is

no ruler in the the X-ray. If the X-ray is taken at a " standard

magnification " sizes can be measured off the X-ray by using a ruler made

for that purpose. If the image is going to be displayed digitally where

it may be reproduced at some nonstandard magnification a ruler in the

image may then be useful.

notan

October 13, 2007

Thanks, Notan. That is good to know. I suppose they can also

find the 1, 2, and 5 minute points from the records, and if that

is true, there's no real need for either the ruler or the number