Use of Air as a Contrast Medium in the Diagnosis of Intestinal Obstruction of the Newborn

Obstruction of the upper gastrointestinal tract in the newborn infant is a surgical emergency requiring immediate operative intervention. The earlier the diagnosis is made in these babies, the better is their chance of survival. Often they have but a single abnormality, and, following correction, will grow to be normal children. It is therefore essential that a diagnosis be made before they are literally worn out by dehydration and hunger. At The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia the vast majority of these infants arrive as diagnostic problems, in spite of repeated roentgen examination. It is almost routine for them to be brought in with either the upper or the lower bowel full of some type of opaque contrast medium; often the entire bowel has been insulted from either end. It is not the purpose of this paper to criticize any particular type of opaque contrast medium, but to condemn unnecessary radiologic procedures which not only delay but often obscure the diagnosis. The Radiation Exposure Problem Rad...