Brooks Memorial Hospital

Diagnostic X-Rays

Diagnostic X-ray - is a photographic technique which is helpful in allowing your physician to see structures inside your body and achieve a better understanding of how efficiently they're performing. The X-rays themselves are completely painless. Depending on the area of your body to be X-rayed, you may be asked not to eat or drink prior to your exam. in other cases, you will be given special contrast agents to enhance or highlight specific body areas.

 

The X-rays will be reviewed by a radiologist (a doctor specializing in interpreting X-rays) and discussed with your physician for diagnosis.

 

Preparation

Please read and follow the instructions carefully for the type of X-ray ordered for you:

 

  • Upper Gastro Intestinal Tract - Often called Upper GI or simply UGI. Do not eat, smoke or chew gum 12 hours prior. At the time of your X-ray, you will be required to drink a milkshake like liquid with a strawberry flavor. This contains the mineral, barium, to enhance the X-ray.

  • Small Bowel - Do not eat, smoke or chew gum 12 hours prior. At the time of X-ray, you will be given the barium drink to help distinguish this part of your intestines. This test frequently lasts from one to three hours so please expect a lengthy exam.

  • Barium Enema (Or Lower GI) - Requires that you come into the hospital at least two days prior to pick up a preparation kit that contains instructions regarding your particular procedure. On the day of your appointment, you will be given an enema using barium, which provides an X-ray image of your lower gastrointestinal tract.

  • Gall Bladder Series or Oral Cholecystogram - You will be given a preparation kit containing dye pills which you'll be required to take 2 days prior. Do not eat or drink 12 hours prior to the exam.

  • Urinary Tract Intravenous Pyleogram (IVP) - Requires no preparation. You will receive an intravenous contrast agent prior to your X-ray. This will highlight your kidneys, ureters and bladder on the X-ray film.

  • Voiding Cysto Urethrogram (VCUG) - No preparation is required. At the time of your X-ray, the radiologist will pass a small tube into your bladder in order to fill it with an X-ray contrast material. X-rays are then taken of the full bladder and while voiding.

  • Arthograms - Customarily used to examine knee and shoulder Joints. No preparation is required. You will receive an injection of a contrast agent into the Joint to help highlight the cartilage contained in that Joint. If you are having a knee arthrogram, it is a good idea to bring shorts for the test.

 

Results

The radiologist will review your X-rays after they have been taken. If no further films are required, you may go home. The radiologist will then review the findings with your physician who will contact you within the next day or two with recommendation.

 

Questions

If you have any questions concerning your diagnostic X-ray, please feel free to ask your doctor or member of the Radiology staff at Brooks Memorial Hospital. We're here to help you feel better, and we're looking towards a healthy future.