Barium enema in ulcerative colitis confirms the diagnosis, the extent and severity of the disease; the procedure is contraindicated in those patients at risk of a toxic dilatation. Features of a barium study include:
Abnormalities are generally continuous, i.e. there are no 'skip' lesions that are characteristic of Crohn's disease, and confined to the large bowel.
Note - while barium enemas still retain their relevance in specific clinical settings, the use of computed tomography enterography (CTE) or magnetic resonance enterography (MRE) are now used as first-line investigations to exclude active small bowel disease in IBD patients and can be utilized to detect active colonic inflammation.
Reference
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