Enterography refers to imaging of the small intestine and can be done by MRI or CT scan. CT produces higher resolution images with less motion artifact, but involves radiation, whereas MRI has zero radiation but it’s a longer process, so images may have some motion artifact due to movement of the bowels.
In both cases, patients drink oral contrast dye followed by injection of intravenous contrast dye. Usually, patients receive a drug to slow down the bowel motion – preventing movements from interfering with the images. Enterography is used to look for inflammation, bleeding, swelling or irritation, small tears in the intestinal wall, blockages and Crohn’s disease.
