Question about MRI to diagnose Crohn's

It sounds like they may be having you do a small bowel series. It is not too odd to have a MRI but it is more common to have CT scan with barium and or contrast. The barium shows up as it traverses through your G.I. tract. It is not the only way to diagnose crohn's disease but it is one of the most common first tests. Typically most are diagnosed through either a colonoscopy, endoscopy, or pill cam test. If it is barium that they are having you drink, you will probably have to drink a lot but it is like a thick milk. Not the tastiest stuff but not the worst either. Sometimes they will have you drink a contrast which is like a juice and that will not be that big of a deal.
There are several others on here that were originally diagnosed with ulcerative colitis only to have that diagnosis changed years later to crohn's disease. There is a not a whole lot of differences in the way they affect the colon but crohn's disease affects the whole G.I. tract instead of just the large intestine. If you are diagnosed with Crohn's disease, you will not have both you will have crohn's disease that is mainly of the colon. This is often referred to as crohn's colitis.

ps. Sorry, forgot to answer re quantity. From memory, it was about a litre. Maybe more. But, as I said, you may not have to drink anything...

I have just had an MRI and I had to drink about a litre of liquid, didnt taste too bad, and then have an injection during scan. the main thing that surprised me about the scan was the noise! it is so loud it chugs away like an old engine and you can hardly hear the soothing music they play over the headphones. I think they do mris as they show up more detail than a ct scan and its easier to understand what your looking at. best of luck its not invasive, the most difficult thing is trying to stay still.

I recently asked my GI about doing another capsule endscopy, as that is what my last GI dx'ed me from, and my GI said insurance doesn't like to pay for them now unless inflammation shows up on a CT scan or MRI, and yet those aren't always real accurate.  It's been years since I had any CTs/MRIs for the Crohn's, but I do remember drinking two containers of the barium for the last one.  I just had the small bowel series about a month ago and I had to drink two medium sized plastic cups full of barium.  It wasn't too bad at first, but it is so heavy that you start feeling really full and I thought I might throw up.  Other places I've been chill the barium first, but this last one was room temperature, which I think is worse.  It probably only took me 15-20 minutes to get it down this time (I was going as fast as I could) but I remember in the past that it took me so long and I would cry and have my husband (boyfriend at the time) ask them if I really had to drink all of it. 

They told me at the hospital that the barium actually causes constipation normally and that many people with D are happy to be more "normal" for a few hours after the test.  It had the opposite effect on me and I usually have C, so I went like I normal person for a day or two.  =)  I hope this test helps.  If my colonoscopy next week doesn't show anything, I'm pushing for another capsule endoscopy, so I'm afraid I might have to have an MRI first, since he thinks insurance won't cover it otherwise. 

Edited. Please do not use the forum to advertise personal blogs.

Post Edited By Moderator (ivy6) : 10/12/2010 2:11:04 PM (GMT-6)

So, my alarm didn't go off this morning and I awoke 30 minutes before my appt.  I was supposed to drink a liter of the barium suspension 45 minutes before my appointment.  I freaked and chugged the horrible liquid...however, no where near as bad as the stuff we have to drink for colonoscopies.  It was like a thick peppermint juice.

Once at the hospital, I had to drink another liter of the peppermint stuff.  Then, while my stomach was doing sommersaults, I had to lie perfectly still on the table for 45 minutes.  They ran contrast through my veins twice and gave me a shot to slow my bowels.

It actually went quicker than I thought, but I was dizzy when I got up.  Then as I was driving to work, I knew I wasn't going to make it, so I quickly detoured home and had violent D.  I also felt VERY nauseous and could have thrown up several times.  I went to work, but had to leave after an hour and a half due to nausea and D every five minutes.

The nurse said I would be able to return to my normal activities the remainder of the day, but I just think when you add any type of liquid in great quantity and very quickly it's going to affect someone who is flaring with an IBD.

By the way, my doctor's office searched long and hard for an "open" MRI machine as I get claustrophobic.  The term "open" is quite a misnomer.  It was still a long enclosed tunnel.  The nurse said open meant there was more room between you and the walls of the machine.  I would guess there was about 6-7 between me and the upper walls.

Sorry you had such a hard time with the contrast. I hope you feel better soon.

Computed tomography (CT) is currently the most commonly used imaging technique for the noninvasive evaluation of complications associated with Crohn’s disease and for evaluating disease recurrence. There is, however, mounting concern regarding a patient’s exposure to multiple doses of ionizing radiation, which is associated with CT and the long term adverse effects of such repeated exposure over a patient’s lifetime.

The potential risks from ionizing radiation exposure associated with CT have led to the development of MR techniques used for the evaluation of Crohn’s disease. MR enterography is able to safely and noninvasively meet the imaging needs of patients with Crohn’s disease without exposing them to ionizing radiation.

MR enterography is an effective tool to evaluate and guide the treatment of patients with Crohn’s disease. It is a noninvasive imaging technique that yields high contrast images of intestinal inflammation, abscesses and fistulas in the small bowel. It utilizes dynamic image acquisition following the administration of intravenous contrast to provide information about the time course of bowel wall enhancement. This serial imaging of bowel wall enhancement over time may help to distinguish active disease from inactive disease. Such dynamic imaging is not routinely performed with CT because of the radiation exposure associated with serial image acquisition. As a result, MR enterography has been shown to be superior to CT for differentiating between acute and chronic inflammation in areas of the diseased bowel, which is critical for deciding on medical vs. surgical treatment. Recent studies comparing CT enterography and MR enterography have demonstrated that both techniques are excellent at detecting features associated with Crohn’s disease and that the differences in sensitivity and specificity between the two techniques were not statistically significant.

MR enterography is an excellent and appropriate imaging option for patients with Crohn’s disease who are concerned about exposure to potentially harmful radiation. It is a particularly useful test for those patients who are younger, require frequent follow-up for symptom exacerbation and to monitor disease progression.