Case report [ASNMT]
Oral Ga-67 Colonic Transit Scintigraphy in Patients with Chronic Constipation: A Single-Institution Experience in Taiwan
Wen-Wen Cheng1* and Kao-Yin Tu2
1Department of Nuclear Medicine, MacKay Memorial Hospital 1Tamsui Branch
2Taipei Headsquares, Taiwan
Correspondence to Wen-Wen Cheng, Department of Nuclear Medicine, MacKay Memorial Hospital, No.45, Minsheng Rd., Tamsui Dist., New Taipei City, Taiwan(R.O.C), Tel: +886-2-2809-4661#2299, E-mail: chengwwnike.b201@mmh.org.tw
Volume 30, Number 1, Article 2, May 2026. Korean J Nucl Med Technol 2026;30(1):2. https://doi.org/10.12972/kjnmt.2026.30.1.2
Received on November 20, 2025, Revised on November 29, 2025, Accepted on December 01, 2025, Published on May 31, 2026.
Copyright © 2026 Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Introduction: Constipation is one of the common modern diseases today. Distinguishing between primary and secondary (organic) constipation is essential for appropriate treatment. In 1999, Dylan Bartholomeuse et al. conducted a comparative study of Ga-67 and In-111, finding that the results of both were very similar. This is good news for Nuclear Medicine in Taiwan, as Ga-67 is more accessible and cheaper than In-111. Therefore, the evaluation metrics of our department also refer to the conclusions of this study. Material and Methods: Our clinical procedure involves patients ingesting 300 c.c. of water or orange juice mixed with 1 mCi Ga67, followed by imaging at 6, 24, 48, and 72 hours. Reviewing patients from 2020 to 2025, there were a total of 40 patients who underwent colon transit study in our department, ranging in age from 20 to 73 years (with an average age of 44.3 years). Results: Among them, 15 were normal patients with an average half-clearance time of 21.72 hours, and 24 were abnormal patients with an average half-clearance time of 88.25 hours. Additionally, one patient was unable to complete the scan for personal reasons. Imaging from normal patients showed the activity of the isotope in the colon: the ascending colon (A) became visible at 6 hours and had almost no radioactive residue after 72 hours; the transverse colon (T) and descending colon (D) were visible around 24 to 48 hours; and the sigmoid colon (S) and rectum (R) were visible from 24 to 72 hours. Conclusions: Nuclear medicine offers significant advantages in the diagnosis of constipation, providing clinicians with critical functional information that enables more accurate identification of the underlying causes and the development of appropriate treatment strategies.
Keywords
Constipation, Colon Transit Study, Ga-67