Scintigraphic detection of acute gastrointestinal bleeding using 99Tcm-DTPA.

Technetium-99m DTPA is a good agent for detecting sites of acute gastrointestinal bleeding due to its rapid clearance by the kidneys and its stability in the bowel achieving a good target to nontarget ratio. It has been successfully tried for a pilot study. Further evaluation is in progress for its sensitivity. In cases where there is a slow rate of bleeding, we are currently evaluating injection of the dose by infusion, slowly over 15 min instead of the rapid i.v. injection.