It may be just a routine scan for you, but for the Crohn's patient, it’s another test in a life full of challenges. While you find yourself fielding questions at the front desk, mixing contrast, calming nerves, explaining breath holds, adjusting coils, cleaning up spills, and repeating sequences when patients can’t stay still, you may feel that you carry the department on your back. Yours is the face the patients remember. You're the one who gets them through the door, through the prep, and through the scan.
Life with Crohn’s: More Than Just Digestive Trouble
Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory condition of the gastrointestinal tract. It doesn’t just come and go; it persists, flares, and evolves. Patients often experience abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, weight loss, fatigue, and malnutrition. Even on their “good days,” they may be managing symptoms you can’t see.
For many, the road to diagnosis is long. And once diagnosed, the reality sets in that there is no cure. Managing Crohn’s means juggling medications, special diets, routine labs, colonoscopies, and, yes, frequent imaging exams to monitor disease progression or complications.
It’s not just physically draining; it’s emotionally exhausting. These patients often feel misunderstood, even in clinical settings. They fear judgment when they cancel appointments at the last minute due to flares, or when they ask again where the nearest restroom is.
The Challenge of Preparing for MR Enterography
Imagine having frequent abdominal pain and bowel urgency, being asked to fast, and being prescribed to drink over 1,000 mL of a bowel distending agent, and then lie motionless on a scanner for between 30 and 45 minutes. While crucial for diagnosis and evaluating disease progress, MR enterography can be an unpleasant experience for the patient.
For someone with Crohn’s, many foods and beverages can trigger anxiety, nausea, and discomfort. When evaluating the bowel distending agent they're provided with in the waiting room, many thoughts run through their mind. They worry that the prep will cause a flare. They’re concerned about needing the restroom during the scan. They may have had bad experiences with oral contrast in the past, especially if it tasted unpleasant or was difficult to finish.
As technologists, you can’t change their diagnosis, but you can change their experience.
Your Role: Creating Comfort in a Vulnerable Moment
Every moment of patient interaction is an opportunity to provide relief, reassurance, and compassion. Consider how a small change, such as offering a more palatable drink for bowel distension, can make a significant difference.
Breeza® for Small Bowel Distention was designed specifically to improve the taste and tolerability of bowel distention prep. It is a non-carbonated, sugar-free beverage with a light lemon-lime flavor that meets the imaging needs for small bowel exams. Most importantly, it is slightly more viscous than water, providing a better “mouth feel” for patients. For patients who already struggle to drink large volumes of liquid, Breeza can be the difference between compliance and cancellation.
But it’s not just about the beverage.
Tech Tip: Questions That Build Trust
It's easy to assume patients know what to expect for their imaging exam. Even if they do, they may still be anxious, worried, or nervous, and asking a personal question helps establish rapport and connection with them. It’s about the tone you use and the time taken to explain each step that helps them feel more at ease.
- “How are you feeling today?”
- “Have you had this scan before?”
- “Do you have any concerns I can address before we begin?”
- “Would it help to know where the restroom is located, just in case?
- "Let me know if you’re uncomfortable.”
These aren’t just polite questions - they tell the patient that you see them.
Inside the Scanner: The Emotional Landscape
Once the scan begins, many Crohn’s patients are left alone with their thoughts and fears. They may be physically uncomfortable. They may be dreading the results. They may be remembering the last time they were here and what it revealed.
Staying still while experiencing abdominal cramps or nausea is no small task. Your guidance and communication, reminders of breath holds, and check-ins between sequences create a sense of connection and calm.
After the Exam: What You May Not See
Once the scan ends, the patient leaves. But their journey continues. They may head home to wait for results, worry about medication changes, or plan for upcoming surgery. Some will go back to work or school, trying to pretend that this disease doesn’t affect their lives as much as it does.
They may not remember every detail of the scan, but they will remember how they were treated.
Imaging is more than data collection, it’s a critical part of a patient’s story. When you treat a Crohn’s patient with dignity, patience, and care, you’re doing more than capturing an image. You’re offering a moment of relief in a life filled with uncertainty.
If you’re ready to make bowel distention prep a little easier on your patients and your workflow, reach out to your Medical Imaging Account Manager at 1.800.233.5539 or email info@beekley.com to request a sample of Breeza® for Small Bowel Distention.
See firsthand how a small change can make a big difference.
