CT Enterography at Somerset Campus

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset offers CT Enterography, a new diagnostic tool in evaluating small bowel disorders, especially Crohn's disease and small bowel cancers.

CT stands for computed tomography. It is an imaging study that is used to visualize the separate organs and structures inside the body. CT Enterography combines a CT scan with oral contrast and 3D modeling to provide an image of the small bowel. This helps your health care provider determine a diagnosis and potential therapies that may be used in your treatment.

You should not eat four hours prior to your scheduled examination time and will need to drink 16 ounces of water two hours prior to the exam. Please check in 1 hour and 15 minutes prior to your scheduled examination time. The CT scan portion of the examination takes approximately 20 minutes.

After you arrive, you will have a brief discussion with the CT technologist and an IV will be started in a vein in your arm. You will then be asked to begin drinking an oral contrast material in timed intervals. Once this is complete, you will begin your exam by lying on the CT scan table with your arms resting above your head. You will then be given a different contrast material through the IV line. You may feel a brief warm sensation after the contrast material is injected. You will be asked to hold your breath for the 20 to 30 seconds that the actual scan takes. The table moves slowly through the ring-shaped CT scanner as the images are taken.

You will be monitored briefly following the examination and your IV will be removed 10 to 15 minutes after the exam. Resume all of your previous medications. Your CT images will be interpreted by a board-certified radiologist and the findings will be sent to your doctor. Your doctor will contact you with the results.