Declining volume of gastrointestinal fluoroscopies: a survey of 18 hospitals.

A survey of the volume of gastrointestinal fluoroscopies at 18 hospitals suggests a decline in the number of these examinations performed over the past 5 years. Data were acquired on 4 types of examinations: upper gastrointestinal series, small bowel studies, barium enemas (all types), and oral cholecystograms. Modest decreases of 8.4%, 10.3%, and 2.0% were noted in the numbers of upper gastrointestinal examinations, small bowel examinations, and barium enemas, respectively. A considerable decline of 45.9% was found in performance of oral cholecystograms. An overall decline of 14.4% was noted for all 4 examinations.