Gastrodiaphanoscopy

GASTRODIAPHANOSCOPY, or gastrodiaphanoscopy (from Greek gaster-stomach, diaphaino-I illuminate and scopeo-I look), a method for examining the stomach by illuminating it "from within" with the aid of an instrument consisting of a soft gastric tube with an electric bulb embedded in its end. The examination is performed on an empty stomach or on a washed stomach; formerly the stomach was filled with water (up to 1 liter); at present, with a "cold" bulb, it can be inflated with air; this has the advantage that the degree of stomach filling can be easily regulated during the examination itself. The examination is carried out in a darkened room, preferably with the patient in a standing or sitting position. The stomach illuminated from within shines through the walls of the abdomen and the lower part of the chest as a pale red spot, the more distinct the closer the bulb is to the abdominal wall. By changing the depth of the latter and the position of the patient, one can finally determine the position of the greater curvature and its outline; in the area not covered by the liver, the contours of the lesser curvature can also be noted; with the bulb in the shallowest position, the illumination of the stomach fundus can sometimes be seen. In the presence of a large tumor on the anterior wall of the stomach or along its curvatures, it is possible (although rarely) to notice either a shadow with a red border at the edges or an irregularity in the contours of the curvature. At present, the diaphanoscopy method has no practical diagnostic value and has been replaced by more reliable X-ray examination and gastroscopy. The diaphanoscopy method can be used with much greater success in operations on the stomach. By this method, Rovsing recommended using it to find ulcers in operations for acute bleeding, if the ulcer cannot be determined upon examination and palpation of the stomach. For this purpose, Rovsing in 1908 proposed his gastroduodenoscope (see Gastroscopy). Ms Figure 1. Gastrodiscoides hominis (natural size).

V. Dorotvorskii.