<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Here is the summary of responses I received to this question:

<<To what extent is it possible to discern Celiac from a barium ingestion
test?  I read somewhere that it was possible to detect areas of malabsorbtion
with an old test where they manually mixed the barium shake, but the new
shake, due to even distribution, does not reveal anything.  Is this true?  Is
the test mainly useful to detect other problems beyond or related--please
respond if your doctor used this in making a diagnosis>>

I received no replied regarding the old vs. new test, so I assumed most were
talking about the new mixture of barium

it will or might show lymphoma  and bowel obstructions.won't show
celiac.
?????

My son had a barium swallow test before a biopsy.  It showed "slight
thickening of the wall of the small intestine."  I assume that means that
the villi were flattened/inflamed enough that it made the wall look thick.

If you are already GF and having healing of the villi, I don't know if it
would show damage or not.  My dr. says it takes up to a year for complete
healing of the villi.  Maybe a biopsy would show damage that has not
completely healed.
???

When I was diagnosed, first I was scoped up and down and then had an upper GI
series with barium.  What was revealed by that series of X-rays was a very
significant dilation of the small intestine.  The doc held his thumb up to
the X-ray and told me that the intestine should be about the thickness of the
thumb.  Mine was obviously much wider (about 50%)As the doc told me, it is a
confirmation of what everything else told him.  Another sign of celiac
disease.
????????

Whatever you end up doing, be super-doubly sure that the barium
itself is gluten-free  ... friend of mine had a doctor that insisted on
a barium MRI, instead of standard biopsy, and she got all her
usual gluten reactions w/in hours of the procedure. Spent about
3 weeks calling around, but did finally get confirmation that the
barium syrup was NOT GF  ... And, sadly, the info did not come
from her doctor  ...
????

it will or might show lymphoma  and bowel obstructions.won't show
celiac.
???

 I doubt he can glean anything useful from a barium test. I took an
elaborate barium test, upper and lower GI three months before I got so bad
I finally got diagnosed. It revealed nothing. If you are better on the GF
diet, quit torturing yourself and accept that you are celiac and enjoy the
diet and the health. Why feel bad all the time? Good luck with your
decision
?????

The barium test is not horrible. You have to swallow too much nasty stuff,
and your stomach feels pretty full when you are done (do try to swallow more
than you think you can, as I think it speeds up the action a bit). Then they
x-ray you, then you wait, then they x-ray you some more, and so on. Finally
they x-ray you using a paddle that moves your intestines around a little
(not especially uncomfortable, though it sounds like it would be).
???????

I think it is done mainly as an elimination tool - to make sure you do not
have cancer or some other problem which might be causing or related to your
symptoms.
????

From what I had done when I was in this hospital because of celiac (not sure
which time), barium tests are useless in detecting celiac disease.  Only true
test if blood work doesn't show anything is a biopsy.