What is involved in the leak test? How is it done and what is the criteria for a good outcome (besides the obvious, no leaks)? I haven't seen this address elsewhere so thought I would ask.

My leak test was drining about 1/4 cup of a clear nasty tasting liquid while standing in front of an xray machine.

Watching the liquid go down as I swallowed...I found it helpful to have a dum dum sucker to put in my mouth as soon as I swallowed the dye then once I had the good taste I threw the sucker away..

Julie

Yep. That's it. Drink the yuck, they snap a couple a pics and you're done! They usually tell you right there that you're clear.

This was the same for me as well. However I threw up the nasty tasting stuff afterwards, but I think that had more to do with being allergic to the morphine they were giving me through IV. My test was done the morning after my surgery while still int he hospital.

Kind of depends on the surgeon. My surgeon submerges the sleeve in water and looks for bubbles (during surgery), then does a non-barium swallow test post-op. I know another surgeon in the area who does nothing during surgery, but does three separate swallow tests post-op. A sleever I know, who had surgery in MX, had 1, 2, and 3 day post-op barium swallows. Now, that's scary.