Conduct of the Examination (cont.)

8. Move the fluoroscope out of the way and have the technologist obtain the overhead radiographs. 

   NOTE: Stay alert and look for lesions during fluoroscopy. A single contrast B. E. relies on a higher level of fluoroscopic skills to detect and document colon pathology than does a double contrast B. E. (With the double contrast B. E., interpretations are usually made from the films, and fluoroscopy is largely used to obtain optimum patient positioning and achieve adequate colon distention.)

   NOTE: Don't waste time! Plan ahead!  Have your "game plan" in mind and your equipment (lead glove, compression paddle, etc.) at hand and ready to use before you start. You will soon find out that a patient cannot retain a single contrast barium enema as long as a double contrast enema. Technologists become very unhappy with a radiologist who tarries and causes the patient to evacuate the enema on the x-ray table before the overhead radiographs can be completed.