Is an edg and berium xray both needed on same person with-in a four day period? complications from barriatric surgery done jan. 2011, in june of same year a mesh was placed on hernia around navel area, shortly after , a blood clot was removed in same area

EGD : Egd is short for esophagus/gastric/duodenum, a method of looking at these three areas of the upper gastrointestinal system directly with a scope introduced through the mouth. It is helpful to look at and biopsy areas that may be causing problems, but does not look at distal areas, specifically the small or large intestine. Colonoscopy is the reverse - it looks at the colon or large intestine, from below, through the anus. In between, the small intestine, the use of barium or gastrograffin dyes, help to outline the small intestine, using x-rays. There is a method of directly visualizing the small intestine using capsule endoscopy, where a camera, about the size of capsule is swallowed and then pictures taken and the images transmitted through an antenna. Each has its own areas for use. Usually the gastrograffin/barium can identify blockage, leaks and large masses in the small intestine. In your description, i imagine that you have some upper abdominal pain that is due to gallstones or a gallbladder that is not working and needs to come out (egd used to rule out other causes of pain) and an infected mesh at the umbilical port (from the bariatric procedure), that needs to come out. The gastrograffin/barium study is to rule out a leak from the intestine (called a fistula).

EGD : Egd and a barium swallow are two tests that are often used in combination to diagnose problems related to the esophagus, stomach, and first part of the small bowel. During an egd a camera is inserted into the mouth and passed down through all three areas to get a close up view of the lining of the GI tract. The barium swallow involves swallowing x-ray contrast and then taking x-rays to get get a MAP of the organs by outlining them with the contrast. You can determine the shape of the GI tract as the contrast moves through it and whether or not something such as the stomach is connected to something else, such as the abdominal wall. If so, you may be able to see contrast moving along the connection. If you were trying to learn more about a neighborhood (the upper GI tract) a barium swallow would be the equivalent of looking at a street MAP and and an egd would be driving down the street yourself.

It : It sounds like your surgeon wants to be safe before embarking on another operation for you. I do not know what you mean by "complications from bariatric surgery." the purpose of the endoscopy would be to examine the stomach, depending on what type of bariatric surgery that you had (there are many types of bariatric surgery). The barium x-ray study may be to look and be sure that there is no intestinal leak or attachment to the mesh that you have, or to examine the stomach if the endoscopy saw something that was uncertain. It also sounds like you are describing that you likely have a mesh infection, and often the correct surgery is to remove the old mesh, and possibly use a newer biologic material for hernia repair.