Monisha Jacob, Jeffrey Ralph, Praveen Kumar Vasanthraj, Prithiviraj P. V, Sushmitha M. S
BACKGROUND With the advent of computed tomography (CT), CT enterography has become the investigation of choice for evaluating small bowel disorders, as it allows better visualization of the bowel wall. As a result, CT enterography is becoming the first line of modality in the evaluation of suspected bowel diseases especially those due to inflammatory pathology.1 CT enteroclysis, on the other hand, allows better bowel distension, thus, depicting the mucosal detail, especially in Crohn's disease. This plays an important role in the clinical staging of the disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS CT enterography was done by administering 100 ml of mannitol (30%) mixed in 1000 ml of water per oral. CT enteroclysis was performed by placement of a 12 F Bilbao Dotter tube and administration of 10 mg of carboxy methylcellulose in 1500 ml of warm water. Both were then followed by unenhanced and contrast enhanced CT. Histopathological correlation was acquired in 10 patients. RESULTS In our study which included 57 patients, 30 patients underwent only CT enteroclysis and 19 patients underwent only CT enterography. The remaining 8 patients underwent both CT enteroclysis and CT enterography. A diagnosis of Crohn's disease was obtained in 4 patients and 1 patient had a duodenal diverticulum on using CT enterography alone. A diagnosis of Crohn's disease was obtained in 6 patients on using CT enteroclysis alone. A diagnosis of Crohn's disease was obtained in 3 patients when both CT enteroclysis and CT enterography was used. CONCLUSION It was concluded that due to its invasive nature and increased radiation dose, CT enteroclysis can preferably be used as a complementary study to CT enterography and neither could replace the other.
