Preliminary abdominal films for gastrointestinal examinations: how efficacious?

A prospective study to evaluate the efficacy of preliminary abdominal films for colon and upper gastrointestinal examinations was carried out on 733 patients. The preliminary film was found to be cost effective and useful in predicting adequacy of patient preparation for colon examinations but not for upper gastrointestinal studies. Significant diagnostic information that could potentially contribute to the patient's care was present in 8.4% of the cases. No contraindications to contrast examinations were found.