[Value of the gastrografin enema in the diagnosis of ileus]

From 1978-1984 421 patients were examined by colon enema with gastrografin. The indication in 246 cases was an acute abdomen, in 172 patients the procedure has been performed postoperatively, 3 patients suffered from gastrointestinal bleeding. 81 of 236 pathological findings showed an ileus. 58 of them underwent an operation. The cause of the ileus were tumors of the colon, extraluminal tumors as well as performations and inflammations. In 55 cases the findings of the gastrografin enema were confirmed by the operation, one was proved to be false negative, one uncertain and one false positive. Therefore the diagnostic accuracy of this procedure amounted to 96%.