When you have a MRI of the abdomen do you have to drink that white stuff you have to drink with a cat-scan??

i had to drink this nasty barium white drink with my abdomen cat scan and now i have to have an mri. i don't want to drink that nasty stuff again.... so im just wondering! thanks in advance : )

No you don't have to drink it, only with a Cat scan. You will have to hold your breath when they say to but it really isn't all that bad of a test. Good Luck with the results.

No. A CT scan uses X-Rays, which show bones very well, but doesn't show soft tissues very well; this is why you get the nasty barium "milkshake"... to outline the soft tissues so they are better viewed by X-Rays. A MRI, however, uses magnetic fields and radio waves, and is much better able to view soft tissues. In some cases, they may inject dyes for better contrast of particular areas, but I think that tends to be for cardiovascular testing.

it really depends at what type of procedure they are doing. The Barium helps them to see if there are any holes or seepage.

It really depends on what you are having it dont for. If you are having a lower or upper GI (where they look at your stomach and intestines) than you will have to drink the Barium because they want to watch it go through your intestines. This is mostly for people who are having digestion problems or for diagnosis of chron's disease.

No Barium is not use in MRI, one of the reasons I do MRI and not CT scans. We do use IV contrast in several different scans depends what we are looking for. If you are having whats called a MRCP(looks at your bile and pancreatic ducts) you will not need contrast. If we are looking for a possible tumor or cyst we will use contrast to help differentiate the difference. Just for information the IV contrast use for CT scans and MRI's is not the same. MRI contrast does not cause the hot feeling and is not made of iodine.