[7] Under the name "iodine", iodized oil is on the World Health Organization's List of Essential Medicines, in liquid and capsule form.

[10] Historically Lipiodol was often used as a contrast medium at hysterosalpingography (HSG: a procedure to determine tubal patency [i.e. whether the fallopian tubes are open], used in the investigation of subfertility).

There is also an important safety issue with Lipiodol in that intravasation (leakage) of the fluid into the venous system has caused complications in the past.

Since the 2000s, a small number of studies have suggested that flushing lipiodol through the fallopian tubes (similar to what is done in HSG, but without imaging) might provide a short-term rise in fecundity in patients with unexplained infertility.

[11] A 2020 Cochrane review suggests that flushing with oil-soluble contrast media such as lipiodol may increase the chance of live birth and clinical pregnancy.

[18][19] Iodized poppyseed oil (Lipiodol) given orally or intermuscularly produces a long-lasting store of iodine in the body, allowing very infrequent dosing.

[7] Historically, Lipiodol was the first iodinated contrast agent (used for myelography by two French physicians, Jacques Forestier and Jean Sicard in 1921).

[7] It was first used for lymphography in 1960 as a replacement for the earlier water-soluble contrasts, which quickly diffused outside the lymphatic network and prevented visualization beyond the first few nodes.

[7]: 168  In 1981, Japanese professor Konno found that when Lipidol is injected into the hepatic artery of patients with hepatocarcinoma, the oily substance is selectively retained by the tumor for several months.

[7]: 168 The use of Lipiodol against iodine deficiency was revived in 1957 by Mac Cullagh, who used it in Papua New Guinea to fight endemic goitre via intramuscular injection.

The technique received increasing approval and refinement as a supplement to salt iodization from the Pan American Health Organisation, UNICEF, and WHO.

[7]: 169 Savage Laboratories supplied thiodized oil for interventional procedure under the brand name "Ethiodol" to the US market until 2011, when the product was discontinued.