Effect of Mucolytic Pretreatment on Gastric Mucosal Coating with Barium Sulfate in the Rat

Abstract
Freshly prepared isolated rat stomachs were used to examine the adherence of barium sulfate particles to the mucosal surface by scanning electron microscopy. The stomachs were pretreated with sodium bicarbonate alone or in connection with N-acetyl-L-cysteine and then treated with barium sulfate specially designed for double contrast examination of the stomach. The best adhesion of the contrast medium was obtained when the mucosa was pretreated with the alkaline and mucolytic agent indicating that, for the optimum adherence of the contrast medium, the mucosal surface apparently must be as clean as possible.