Whole Milk Is Useful and Cost-Effective as Oral Contrast Agent

Whole milk is as effective, less expensive and more comfortable for a patient than a diluted barium suspension commonly used to examine gastrointestinal tracts, a new study finds.

Published in the American Journal of Roentgenology, the study showed that 215 patients undergoing computed tomography imaging for abdominal and pelvic treatment reported better tolerability with whole milk as an oral contrast agent as compared with barium suspension.

Radiologists reviewed the patient images, scoring them based on degree of bowel distension and bowel wall visibility. They found that images taken of patients who were given whole milk were just as useful as the images taken of patients given the diluted barium, according to Chi Wan Koo, the study’s lead author.