The Digestive

System
Radiodiagnostik

The digestive tract begins at the lips

and ends at the anus
The major functions of the digestive
system include:
1 motility of luminal contents,
2 secretion of digestive juices

3 mechanical and chemical

breakdown of foodstuffs into
absorbable units (digestion)
4 absorption

The major divisions of the digestive tract

include:
the mouth
the oropharynx (from the Latin for mouth

and throat)
the esophagus (from the Greek oisophagos,
passage for food),
the stomach (from the Greek stoma, mouth)

the duodenum (from the Latin duo,

two den, ten, because it is 12

fingerbreadths long)
the jejunum (from the Latin jejunus,

empty, because it was thought to

be empty at death)

the ileum (from the Latin ileus,

flank),
the colon, the rectum (from the
Latin for straight, as in rectitude)
the anus (from the Latin for ring,

as in annular

Esophagus
Indications for esophagography :
chest pain,
heartburn,
dysphagia (difficulty swallowing,
such as the feeling that food boluses
get stuck in the chest),
odynophagia (painful swallowing).

 The

esophagus,stomach, and
duodenum are often imaged together in
a upper gastrointestinal (GI) series

Computed tomography and magnetic

resonance imaging are used primarily to

evaluate the extent of extraesophageal
disease in conditions such as
esophageal carcinoma

Esophagus

a doublecontrast
esophagogram

Stomach
Indications for gastric imaging :
heartburn, epigastric pain, vomiting,

and hematemesis (vomiting of

blood )

Stomac
h

imaging the small bowel

small bowel follow-through, a

dedicated small bowel series, and

enteroclysis.

Indications for imaging the small bowel

:
abdominal pain,
malabsorption,

diarrhea, and blood in the stools.

Large Intestine
Indication imaging the colon include
rectal bleeding,
abdominal pain,
anemia,
weight loss

Patterns of GI
abnormalities
filling defects
intrinsic mural abnormalities
extraluminal projections
distention
narrowing

Filling Defects
The principle types of lesions that
project into the gut lumenare polyps
and masses.

innumerable polypoid
filling defects throughou
the colon in this patient
with familial polyposis

Intrinsic Wall
Abnormalities
Several processes may cause

changes in the wall itself,altering

the radiographic appearance of
the gut

Distention
Bowel dilatation

The most common causes of

mechanical obstructions in adults

include postsurgical adhesions, hernias,
and masses
The most common cause of functional
obstruction is adynamic
ileus, which is often seen in the
postoperative setting, or resulting from
pain

Diseases of the Liver and

the Intrahepatic Biliary System
Inflammatory
Tumorous
Infectious

Pancreas
Inflammatory
Tumorous

Pancreatitis

gallbladder

Acute cholecystitis

Chronic cholecystitis

Gallbladder carcinoma

Endoscopy versus Radiology

Endoscopy
performed by a gastroenterologist or

surgeon, offers the ability to directly

visualize pathology, to obtain tissue
for histologic diagnosis, and to
provide certain types polypectomy.

Disadvantages of
endoscopy
for sedation,
a higher (but still very low)

incidence of complications such as

perforation, and significantly higher
cost (often 36 times greater).