[Clinical evaluation of a simple and rapid method of barium enema]

A new technique of barium enema examination and its clinical usefulness are reported. Routine colonography 300 (RCG 300), a disposable instrument filled with 300 ml of 75 w/v% barium sulfate, was devised to simplify and quick the procedures of barium enema examination. For preparation of the colon, patients took either favorite or a proprietary low residue diet and a dose of 125 ml of magnesium citrate and either 15 mg or 37.5 mg of sodium picosulfate as laxatives the day before examination, but they did not receive either bisacodyl suppository or glycerin enema. There were 486 patients with suspected lesions of the large intestine examined by barium enema using RCG 300 over a period between January, 1984 and June, 1985 while 456 patients underwent barium enema examination by the conventional enema syringe (ES) method during the same period of time. The quality of X-ray films after barium enema by the RCG 300 technique was mostly satisfactory and comparable to that by the conventional ES technique irrespective of the four methods of colon preparation. The mean time for examination was 9.4 +/- 3.0 min (+/- SD) for the RCG 300 method, and was significantly shorter than 11.7 +/- 3.2 min for the conventional ES method (p less than 0.01). Comparison with the results of colonoscopic examination revealed that accuracy of the RCG 300 method in the detection of polyp and cancer in the large intestine did not differ significantly from that of the conventional ES method.