Comparison of Positive Oral Contrast Agents for Abdominopelvic CT

OBJECTIVE. The objective of our study was to compare the quality of bowel opacification from three different positive oral contrast agents—barium sulfate, diatrizoate, and iohexol—at abdominopelvic CT. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Abdominopelvic CT examinations with three different oral contrast agents (each contrast agent: n = 300 patients) of 900 patients were retrospectively evaluated by two independent readers. For four segments of the gastrointestinal tract (i.e., the stomach, jejunum, ileum, and colon), readers recorded qualitative data (grade of nonuniform lumen opacification, types of inhomogeneous opacifications, presence of artifacts, and distribution of contrast agent) and quantitative data (CT attenuation of lumen [in Hounsfield units]). The results were compared among the three contrast agents using the Mann-Whitney U test and repeated-measures ANOVA with a post hoc Bonferroni correction. RESULTS. Fewer artifacts were detected with iohexol (4.3%) as the oral contrast agent than with diatrizoate (13...