After an Upper GI Series: How to Care for Your Child

An upper GI series can help the health care provider learn more about your child's digestive system.

An upper GI, or upper gastrointestinal test, is a series of X-rays that take moving pictures of the esophagus, stomach, and part of the small intestine as your child swallows. This test can help find the cause of problems such as frequent vomiting, not gaining weight, stomach pain, or trouble swallowing.

During the upper GI series, your child swallowed a type of liquid called barium. With special X-rays, the health care provider watched how your child swallows and looked at the size and shape of parts of the digestive tract. This helps the health care provider look for problems in the upper part of the digestive tract. Your child's health care provider should be able to give you the results of this test within a day or two.

• Unless instructed otherwise, you can feed your child after the test.

• Your child can return to regular activities immediately after the test.

• Encourage your child to drink extra fluids after the test to flush the barium out of the body and to help avoid constipation. 

• Your child's bowel movements may look white or gray for a few days. This is normal after having barium.    

Your child:

• Is constipated.

• Is having stomach pain.

• Has a fever.

• Your child appears dehydrated; signs include dizziness, drowsiness, a dry or sticky mouth, sunken eyes, producing less urine or darker than usual urine, crying with little or no tears.

• Your child develops signs of an allergic reaction to the barium, such as hives, difficulty swallowing, difficulty breathing, or vomiting.