Value of gastrointestinal tract preparation with oral administration of anisodamine and isotonic mannitol in 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging

Objective To investigate the value of gastrointestinal tract preparation with oral raceanisodamine tablets and isotonic mannitol in 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging. Methods From July to September 2013, 129 patients with confirmed or suspected tumors who were referred for 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging were divided into 2 groups. In the study group (30 males, 37 females, age (53.4±13.9) years), raceanisodamine tablets (10 mg) and 1 000-1 200 ml isotonic mannitol solution (2.5%) were orally taken at 10 min after injection of 18F-FDG; while in the control group (37 males, 25 females, age (60.0±12.8) years), 1 000-1 200 ml water was given. Mann-Whitney u test was used to compare the difference between the 2 groups in the filling degree of gastrointestinal lumen, delineation of tube wall, physiological uptake, matching degree of PET and CT images, delineation of mesentery, and the influence of gastrointestinal uptake on the identification of abdominal and pelvic lesions. χ2 test was used to compare the difference between the 2 groups in the uptake pattern of gastrointestinal tract and the incidence of side effects. Spearman correlation analysis was used to study the correlation between gastrointestinal lumen filling and PET/CT image matching. Results The gastrointestinal lumen filling, delineation of tube wall, PET/CT image matching in the stomach, small intestine and colon (z: -5.096 to -2.665, all P 0.05). There was statistically significant difference in the uptake pattern of small intestine between the two groups(χ2=12.884, P 0.05). The incidence of transient diarrhea (20.9%, 14/67) was higher in the study group than that in the control group (4.8%, 3/62; χ2=7.256, P<0.01). Conclusions The abdominal PET/CT image quality is improved by gastrointestinal preparation with oral raceanisodamine tablets (10 mg) and 1 000-1 200 ml isotonic mannitol solution (2.5%). Key words: Gastrointestinal system; Tomography, emission-computed; Tomography, X-ray computed; Deoxyglucose; Solanaceous alkaloids; Mannitol