The Role of Barium Esophagography in an Endoscopy World

Barium esophagography, although an old test, remains important to the understanding of esophageal physiology and diagnosis of esophageal disorders. It provides additive and/or confirmatory information to endoscopy and is the more accurate means of yielding diagnosis. Barium esophagography allows correlation of symptoms with barium findings and with varied textures substances. It allows, particularly for oropharyngeal dysfunction, implementation therapeutic maneuvers and instructions while testing. The caveat to maintaining the benefits of barium esophagography is continuing to promote and support expertise from our radiologists in performing these studies, which has been challenged by our cost-efficient and high-tech medical society.

Key points

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Barium radiography is a powerful tool in its ability to combine critical analysis of esophageal motility, relative replication of patient physiologic swallowing function, good anatomic definition and the ability to correlate potential symptoms with findings on imaging.
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Use of barium in a video swallow study remains the best test to diagnose and often treat disorders of oropharyngeal dysfunction.
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Barium radiography is an important research role in elucidating normal function of the oropharynx, particularly when used with other modalities such as high-resolution manometry and impedance.