Identification of Intestinal Gallium Collection by Imaging the Upper Gastrointestinal Tract Using 99mTc Given Orally

The use of gallium imaging in the diagnosis of intraabdominal abscess has resulted in false-positive scans from the accumulation of gallium in the gastrointestinal tract. This is particularly true in patients with a blind loop or bowel obstruction. Orally administered Tc can be useful in reducing the number of falsepositive scans and may confirm the intraluminal accumulation of gallium in these cases. A case study is presented which illustrates the efficacy of orally administered Tc for this purpose.