Crohn's disease other imaging findings

Crohn's disease
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Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]

Overview

Other imaging findings for Crohn's disease can be seen by the help of barium enema. Barium enema may show ulcerations and skip lesions. Barium enema must be avoided in severe cases as it can lead to the manifestation of toxic megacolon.

Other Imaging Findings

Barium Studies

• A small bowel follow-through may suggest the diagnosis of Crohn's disease and is useful when the disease involves only the small intestine.
• Because colonoscopy and gastroscopy allow direct visualization of only the terminal ileum and beginning of the duodenum, they cannot be used to evaluate the remainder of the small intestine. As a result, a barium follow-through x-ray, wherein barium sulfate suspension is ingested and fluoroscopic images of the bowel are taken over time, is useful for looking for inflammation and narrowing of the small bowel.
• Barium enemas, in which barium is inserted into the rectum and fluoroscopy used to image the bowel, are rarely used in the work-up of Crohn's disease due to the advent of colonoscopy. They remain useful for identifying anatomical abnormalities when strictures of the colon are too small for a colonoscope to pass through, or in the detection of colonic fistulae.