What is a defecography?

What is a defecography?

If you’re having trouble pooping — or holding in your poop — or any kind of unwanted sensation when you poop — your healthcare provider may recommend defecography to find out what the problem is. Defecography is a radiology test to look inside at your muscles and organs while you poop (defecate). Through detailed fluoroscopic X-ray or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), healthcare providers can see how different muscles and organs are moving when you poop.

You don’t actually poop real poop in the test. Instead, healthcare technicians will fill your rectum with a barium paste — a medical substance that has the same consistency as poop. Barium is a contrast agent that makes your insides show up better in X-ray or MRI tests. You’ll evacuate the paste on a special toilet inside a scanning machine. The radiologist will be looking at your insides on a computer screen, not at you squatting on the toilet.