Milk May Be Pleasant Alternative for CT Scans

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As to cost, VoLumen was $18 per patient compared to $1.39 for those who drank milk.

"We hope that substituting milk for other contrast agents will reduce the number of people who refuse imaging tests because they do not want to drink the oral contrast, especially children," Dr. Lisa Shah-Patel, a radiology resident at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in New York City, said in a statement. She is one of the study's authors.

But Dr. Raul N. Uppot, assistant radiologist at Harvard Medical School, is skeptical that milk will be a viable alternative. "I don't believe we should sacrifice image quality for improved tolerability," he said, adding that some patients may not be able to drink milk due to allergy, lack of ability to tolerate milk products, or existing bowel disease.

"This is only a small study, and when applied to the larger population of patients undergoing CT, I feel you will run into more complaints of discomfort and diarrhea (with milk)," he said.

In addition, Uppot said, "most patients at our institution tolerate the VoLumen with a few complaints of diarrhea."

More information

There's more on CT scans at RadiologyInfo (www.radiologyinfo.org ).