Today I had the explicit pleasure of observing something called a "defecating proctogram." This is by far one of the more disturbing exams I've seen. It consists of taking a caulking gun (just like the ones at Home Depot) filled with barium contrast and depositing the entire tube of contrast into the patient's rectum. The patient then sits on a toilet and has images of them defecating under fluoroscopy taken.
Now before you starting saying, "Why in God's name?!" The study exists to diagnose things like rectoceles, fistulas, and the like. But let's just say it is by far the strangest piece of medicine I've seen, or at least have seen in the last few months.
If you would like to see a humorous article (written by some of the radiology residents at the hospital I'm working at, here's the unedited Wikipedia page. Please note, that the edited page removed the picture of the actual instrument they use (and some of the false humorous parts). And for more humor, please see: Defecating Postures.
Other interesting things I learned today: UGI studies and barium enemas require gymnastic abilities in the patient; turning and spinning and standing on their heads (not really). It made me a little more conscious about how some patient will never be able to do some of the studies we order.
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