Exam category: Procedures → Thorax and Abdomen
Why it matters: Five named studies each carry their own prep, their own key projection, and their own safety rule, and the registry tests all three. The highest-yield items here are the ones where a position has a specific job: which upper GI projection shows the retrogastric space, which one fills the duodenal bulb with air instead of barium, and why the RAO rotation is a range rather than a number.
Abdomen & the acute series covered the plain abdomen and the contrast-agent decision. This module covers what happens once the contrast goes in. All five studies are fluoroscopic: the radiologist watches live and takes spot images, then you take the overhead projections. Learn each study as a package — what it looks at, how the patient was prepped, the one projection that matters most, and the safety rule attached to it.
| Study | What it evaluates |
|---|---|
| Esophagram | Esophagus — strictures, varices, reflux |
| Swallowing dysfunction study | The swallowing mechanism itself, in real time (aspiration risk) |
| Upper GI series | Stomach and duodenum |
| Small bowel series | Small intestine, via timed follow-through images |
| Contrast (barium) enema | Large intestine, filled retrograde through a rectal tip |
All five are fluoroscopic exams: the radiologist watches and takes spot images live, then you take the overhead ("postfluoroscopy") projections. Those overheads must be taken immediately after fluoroscopy, before too much barium has passed on — for an upper GI, before it drains into the jejunum.
(How much contrast detail you need — single vs. double — and which agent to use are covered in Abdomen & the acute series.)
Answer this to keep going. 14 more sections unlock below.
The radiologist has just finished fluoroscopy on an upper GI. When do you take the overhead projections?
Section 1 of 15. Answer the check to keep going.