What the label lists and what reports show
Barium sulfate side effects
Barium sulfate's FDA label lists its adverse reactions in its own words. FAERS holds 434 reports naming it through July 30, 2026; the reaction reported most often, leaving out the conditions it is used for, product-use terms and outcomes, is aspiration (69 reports).
- No generic listed
Check it at the source: the barium sulfate FDA label on DailyMed (effective April 15, 2026, E-Z-EM Canada Inc); the FDA FAERS public dashboard.
What does the label list?
From the label: adverse reactionsThe following adverse reactions have been identified from spontaneous reporting or clinical studies of barium sulfate administered orally. Because the reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or to establish a causal relationship to drug exposure: Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramping Serious adverse reactions and fatalities include aspiration pneumonitis, barium sulfate impaction, intestinal perforation with consequent peritonitis and granuloma formation, vasovagal and syncopal episodes Common adverse reactions include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal cramping ( 6 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Bracco Diagnostics Inc at 1-800-257-5181 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch.
Source: FDA drug label, NDA208143 (Bracco), as published by E-Z-EM Canada Inc, effective April 15, 2026 (SPL set d2d293d5-dcc9-0d3f-58ed-686ef0132d7c), via openFDA; the full label on DailyMed
What do FAERS reports show?
434 reports list barium sulfate among the medicines taken, each a report of something that happened, not proof the medicine caused it; 31 are coded as a death and 125 as a hospital stay. Counts follow how widely a medicine is used and watched, and they are not a measure of how risky it is. Of the 22 reactions below, 8 are named by the same term (in US spelling) in the label's adverse reactions, warnings or patient leaflet; a reaction the label does not name may still be there under another word, and a report does not show that the medicine caused it.
The 25 most reported reactions
Source: FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) via openFDA, reports through July 30, 2026; reactions as MedDRA preferred terms
What next?
- Barium sulfate: the full record
- label, generics, price, shortages, recalls
- Report a side effect to the FDA
- MedWatch
- Side effects hub
- the most reported medicines and reactions