Fatal complications related to diagnostic barium enema.
Thousands of barium enemas are performed in the United States each year without incident. Occasionally complications arise, only a few of which are fatal. Perforation is the most frequent serious complication of this procedure. Two instances of fatal perforation, one colonic and the other vaginal, are described, and the relevant literature is reviewed.
Rimarenko
S
S
Lillian and Henry M. Stratton-Hans Popper Department of Pathology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York.
Finkel
L
L
Taff
M L
ML
Weiss
M F
MF
Schwartz
I S
IS
Federman
Q
Q
Bogliol
L R
LR
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001466:Barium Sulfate / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012809:Colon, Sigmoid / Q000293:injuries; D004733:Enema / Q000401:mortality*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007416:Intestinal Perforation / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D010538:Peritonitis / Q000209:etiology; D014621:Vagina / Q000293:injuries
D001466:Barium Sulfate