Suggest An Alternative To Barium Swallow Procedure

Posted on Wed, 12 Oct 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 12 Oct 2016 Answered on

Wed, 9 Nov 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : is there any other procedure that an be done to take the place of an upper GI barium? Cant an endoscopy
be done instead? Does medical insurane have a dicitation into this procedure? I have had unpleaseant experiences with the use of barium.

Answered by Dr. Vivek Chail (23 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
You can go for gastrografin study or upper GI endoscopy

Detailed Answer:
Hi,
Thanks for writing in to us.

There are modifications to barium swallow procedure in which a contrast agent like gastrografin (Diatrizoate Meglumine and Diatrizoate Sodium Solution) can be ingested orally in liquid form and is available in lemon flavor.

Upper gastrointestinal endoscopy is a good investigation to look for hiatus hernia.

You can discuss both the points mentioned with your radiologist and then proceed to have the required investigation done after informing them about unpleasant experiences with barium.

Hope your query is answered.
Please do write back if you have any doubts.

Regards,

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar