Iodized Oil in Roentgenology

Abstract

STARTLING revelations have been made in almost every branch of medicine and surgery in the past decade, but few have attracted the attention of the medical profession as has the use of a contrast medium in roentgen diagnosis. While the iodized oils have almost unlimited uses, a few words of caution and some modifications in the technic are essential after almost five years of experience, accumulated from an extensive literature and personal observation. The oil originally employed by Sicard and Forestier (1) is known commercially as Lipiodol Lafay. It is a tasteless and practically odorless amber-yellow vegetable oil (oil of poppy) containing 40 per cent by weight of iodine in chemical combination with the fatty acids. Iodipin, another preparation which can be used with impunity, is a yellowish brown oil (oil of sesame) also containing 40 per cent of iodine by weight. Its specific gravity is 1.370, while that of lipiodol is 1.350. The advantages of the oils named above may be summarized as follows: (1) Ma...