Presentation
Generalized abdominal pain and fullness. Nausea, but no vomiting. Passing flatus.
Patient Data
Normal bowel gas pattern. No evidence of dilatation. Vertebral column and pelvis appear normal. No cause for pain identified.
Both large (red) and small bowel (blue) can be seen on this case. The gas shadows are not contiguous, and they often are not. However, this should highlight that large bowel tends to be peripheral and small bowel tends to be central. Also, large bowel tends to have a larger caliber than small (clearly not the case in conditions such as small bowel obstruction).
Case Discussion
Normal abdominal radiograph. Both large and small bowel is demonstrated here and is normal. Bowel appearance (presence and absence of gas and feces, and the location of bowel loops) is extremely variable.