Difference between Upper GI and GE Scan?

[Anonymous]

My 2 year old sons reflux is not being controlled at all by meds. So, they are doing an Upper GI on him in 2 days.

He had a GE Scan done several months ago which showed lots of activity and that’s all the Dr. said (different GI).

What’s the difference between the two tests and why didn’t they do them both at the same time? More to bill to the insurance Co.?

TIA!!!

[Anonymous]

i have no idea what a GE scan is, but i can’t believe that your son is 2 years old and they are just getting around to doing an upper gi. what kind of medication has he been on?

ithink at 2 years old if his reflux is still this bad, i’d be insisting on a scope and a ph probe to see what is really going on down there.

[Anonymous]

All I know about the GE scan is that they looked at how much activity was going on and how far up the reflux was. The Doc. said there was lots of activity…

I cannot believe they haven’t done the upper gi yet too! I thought the endoscopy was the upper GI.

He’s had two endoscopy’s and ph probes. One of them just a couple months ago. It showed sever reflux while on 30mg. of Nexium a day.

Something is going on and I wish these freakin doctors would figure it out.

Can you think of any other tests that might be helpful? He’s had a plethora done already, but maybe it’s something basic, like the Upper GI.

Thanks!!!

kevieb wrote:

i have no idea what a GE scan is, but i can’t believe that your son is 2 years old and they are just getting around to doing an upper gi. what kind of medication has he been on?

ithink at 2 years old if his reflux is still this bad, i’d be insisting on a scope and a ph probe to see what is really going on down there.

[Anonymous]

how many epsodes of reflux did he have and what was his overall percentage of reflux? what did the biopsy results show on a molecular level when he had his endoscopies done?

sylvia had a hiatal hernia—-but it did not show up during any of the tests she had. her overal % of reflux was almost 25% and her esophagus was getting ulcerated, she was also anemic and failure to thrive. they decided a fundo was necessary and discovered the hiatal hernia when they went in to to the fundo.

[Anonymous]

I don’t have the records, I’m in the process of getting them…But, what I remember is that he refluxed a lot. I will see what kind of info I can find out, if theses drs. ever call me back.

Thanks for the info!!

[Anonymous]

ask for a copy of the graph of the ph probe—-it is kind of interesting to look at. usually they will just give you a copy of the doctors report unless you ask specifically for the graph. long episodes of reflux are more significant than the actual number of episodes. sylvia had 97 episodes during her probe, but about 7 of them were prolonged episodes—i think that is referring to episodes over 7 minutes long. sylvia’s longest episode lasted 44 minutes. it was during the night and she slept right through it.

[Anonymous]

i looked up the difference between the two scans. a GE scan is also called a milk scan. they drink their regular formula or milk. with an upper gi they drink barium.

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