1) Are you still holding the line at requiring/recommending oral contrast for CT in non-trauma settings?
- Most every administrator in the hospital, and many of the clinicians, are telling us that we don’t need to give it. We feel that patients benefit barring extenuating circumstances, but it’s an uphill battle to promote continued PO contrast in CT.
- There was a 2019 Radiology article from Harvard that said, “Current oncology and American College of Radiology guidelines advocate the use of positive OCM, despite its influence on workflow”.
2) If you are still giving PO contrast, what volume of contrast and what specific instructions do you give patients about drink timing prior to the CT scan?
- There was a 2019 AJR article from UCSF that said: “Our use of a 45- to 60-minute scanning delay after initiation of drinking of oral contrast material is common for the use of oral CT contrast material and has been our institutional protocol for decades. Nevertheless, we found incomplete opacification of the small bowel when using this protocol regardless of which type of oral contrast agent was used. “
As always, thank you so much!!!