Use of Tagging Agents for CTC

At the VA they use ACRIN (American College of Radiology Imaging Network) Tagging Protocol since the VA is one of the sites for ACRIN trials. They use two different tagging agents and a cathartic  so patients have to remain on a clear liquid diet on the day before and during the morning of.   They will take aliquots (portion of the total amount) of tagitol, which is used to tag solid stool in the colon at 8:00 AM, 11:00 AM, and 2:00 PM. Then in the late afternoon, saline or cathartic or PEG (laxative) is given, which is followed by disacodyl tablets, another form of laxative. Finally the evening of the night CTC, patient ingests three aliquot of gastrografin to tag any residual fluid.