Preliminary

• You will be assisted by an aide or technologist who will prepare the bag of Oral Hypaque and shake it to produce a uniform 15% solution, run Hypaque from the enema bag into the plastic tubing to expel the air, and, finally, clamp the tubing. The enema bag will be hung on an I.V. pole and raised not more than 3 feet above the table top. The assistant will then place the patient on his left side, lubricate the enema tip, and insert it into the patient's rectum. (If the aide or technologist encounters any difficulty, the radiologist will be summoned to perform a digital rectal exam and insert the tip.)
  

Conduct of the Examination

• The technique of performing a water soluble contrast enema is virtually identical to that for a single contrast barium enema.
   
• Because (1) the goals of the water soluble contrast enema are usually very limited and specific and (2) the colon has not been cleansed of feces, there is no need to take radiographs of every little filling defect. It is often more informative to watch the head of the barium column fluoroscopically and take spot images only when pathology is detected.
  
  

Overhead Radiographs

Same as for a single contrast barium enema