Cleansing the colon in gallium-67 scintigraphy: a prospective comparison of regimens

Journal Article · Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1981 · AJR, Am. J. Roentgenol.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2214/ajr.137.5.979· OSTI ID:5504223

Novetsky, G J; Turner, D A; Ali, A; Raynor, Jr, W J; Fordham, E W

Colonic accumulation of gallium-67 frequently complicates the interpretation of gallium-67 scintigrams. Although various modes of cleansing the colon prior to scintigraphy have been suggested, there is controversy over their efficacy and none have been tested prospectively. Three hundred nine patients undergoing gallium-67 scintigraphy were randomly assigned to one of four cleansing regimens: (1) a high fiber diet (78 patients); (2) castor oil (76); (3) milk of magnesia and cascara (76); and (4) not preparation (79). Patient compliance rates for the four regimens were 17%, 32%, 36%, and 46%, respectively. After noncompliant patients were excluded, gallium-67 scintigrams were graded for colonic activity on a scale of 0-3 by three independent, experienced observers. Gallium-67 activity in the colon was significantly less after administration of castor oil than after no preparation (p . 0.047). A high fiber diet also resulted in a substantial reduction of colonic activity when compared with no preparation; the difference, however, was not statistically significant (p . 0.083). Regimen 3 did not produce significantly better results than regimen 4 (p . 0.42). A major impediment to the success of any cleansing regimen seems to be poor compliance of patients.

• Research Organization: Department of Nuclear Medicine, Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, IL
• OSTI ID: 5504223
• Journal Information: AJR, Am. J. Roentgenol.; (United States), Vol. 137:5
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
GALLIUM 67
BIOLOGICAL ACCUMULATION
SCINTISCANNING
LARGE INTESTINE
CLEARANCE
CASTOR OIL
DIET
MAGNESIUM HYDROXIDES
PATIENTS
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
BETA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BODY
COUNTING TECHNIQUES
DAYS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
DIAGNOSTIC TECHNIQUES
DIGESTIVE SYSTEM
ELECTRON CAPTURE RADIOISOTOPES
GALLIUM ISOTOPES
GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROXIDES
INTERMEDIATE MASS NUCLEI
INTESTINES
ISOTOPES
MAGNESIUM COMPOUNDS
NUCLEI
ODD-EVEN NUCLEI
OILS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANS
OTHER ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
RADIOISOTOPE SCANNING
RADIOISOTOPES
550601* - Medicine- Unsealed Radionuclides in Diagnostics