Can ultrasonic examination of the pancreas and gallbladder follow a barium UGI series on the same day?

Ultrasonic examinations of the pancreas and gallbladder are currently not performed after a barium UGI series until all of the barium has cleared the gastrointestinal tract (12-48 hours). By giving water one hour after a barium UGI series and scanning the patient in an upright position, using the stomach as an acoustic window, we have been successful in visualizing the pancreas in all 14 of the volunteers studied. Our visualization of the pancreas and gallbladder was as good after the UGI series as it was prior to the ingestion of barium in every case. The use of this technique can expedite the evaluation of patients in whom both upper abdominal ultrasonic and barium UGI series are indicated.