Are oral cathartics of value in optimizing the gallium scan? Concise communication.

The normal intestinal secretion of 9-15% of an administered dose of gallium-67 may prevent early detection of intra-abdominal disease. We randomized 50 patients to receive either no bowel preparation or 30 cc of milk of magnesia plus 5 cc of cascara. No significant difference was found between the two groups in frequency with which gallium interfered with readings or time to complete the study.