[The pneumodynamic barium x-ray study of small intestine adhesions (a preliminary report)]

Small-intestinal adhesions are not very rare, but on conventional X-ray examination are frequently missed because of their poor semiotics. By the method of pneumodynamic-barium X-ray examination, which allows to obtain high-quality double-contrast image, in addition to the better visualized classical symptoms--exostotic rebounds, diverticulum-like deformities, peristaltic spasms, spastic contractions etc, one may evince also the following new criteria: when inflated the intestines do not freely increase their volume, as is normal, are not unplaited along the entire abdomen, but remain amassed in a definite zone (usually in the left half); On external pressure the inflated loops do not move, as do the ones without adhesions, but remain fixed, so that their structure remains unchanged. The intestinal loops are crooked with acute angles; when in a normally inflated state, they are not crooked, but long. A frequent finding in small intestinal adhesions are the V-shaped figures in whose bottom there is barium meal over which air passes. A study of the small-intestinal cannon contraction reveals insufficiency in the hydrodynamics of the intestinal passage, marked by delayed evacuation, in spite of the strong peristalsis. This method allows a more precise elucidation than the conventional X-ray examination of the abdominal status in small-intestinal adhesions and better orientates the surgeon to choose conservative or operative treatment.