Gastro-intestinal transit measurement

Preparation

• No food or fluid intake is allowed for 6 hours prior to the examination. On the examination day starting at 5 am, you should refrain from smoking, chewing gum or taking candies.
• At least 24 hours prior to the examination no legumes (lentils, beans, soybeans, soy sprouts and peas), no salad, no whole-grain bread and other heavy foods should be taken.
• On the day preceding and the day of the examination, no laxatives should be taken.
• No antibiotics are to be taken for one week prior to the examination.
• On the examination day, you are allowed to drink tap water and all sorts of tea with artificial sweetener (no sugar). However, you should not drink any mineral water.

Examination proper

At the beginning of the examination, there will be a baseline respiratory test.
After that, you will receive 30 grams of Lactulose (a kind of sugar) dissolved in water, which you have to drink. In this drink, there will also be a slightly radioactive substance, which allows us to evaluate the transit speed of the drink through your small intestine by the repetitive images taken.
There will be a respiratory test and an imaging test every 10 minutes during 3 hours. In addition, you will have to fill out a questionnaire, in which you have to describe the sensations, you are experiencing as a result of the liquid ingested. Please take along something to read to avoid getting bored.

Radiation exposure

The radiation exposure of the examination is minimal and comparable to that of an X-ray exam. If you know or think, that you are pregnant, please call us and let us know until noon of the day prior to the examination. You should also contact us, if you take care of children younger than 6 years. Also note, that children or young adults are not permitted to accompany you to the examination.

Side effects

Side effects such as allergies, are exceedingly rare.
Please inform us upon arrival, if you have any allergies. There is an examination slot reserved for you and you have to strictly to the examination times given to you.
Rarely, we have emergency patients, which have to be examined. This may result in a short delay. In this case, we count on your comprehension. The evaluation of your examination takes some time. Hence, we cannot give you any results right after the examination. We will transmit the results and the images taken to the referring physician as soon as they are ready.