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The purpose of this study is to take pictures of your bones to help the doctor diagnose your condition, and give appropriate treatment as required.
On arrival you will receive an injection, which contains radioactivity into a vein in your arm. Immediately, pictures will be taken by a gamma camera placed over a specific part of your body. The pictures will take 20 minutes. You must return to the Department about 3 hours later, for further pictures. These would take 30-45 minutes. The study may be carried out with you sitting, standing or lying down on a couch. You do not normally need to take off any clothing. Only removal of jewellery or metal objects is required. In order to get good pictures the camera will be close and you will have to remain still.
If you are pregnant, or you think you might be pregnant, you need to inform your doctor or the Nuclear Medicine staff before attending your appointment. In general, exposure to radiation during pregnancy should be kept to a minimum and it may be necessary to postpone your scan. The present guidelines recommend that breast feeding need not be interrupted if the mother is undergoing this test; however, it is advisable to feed the baby before the injection and to express and discard any milk secreted over the first 3 hours following the injection.
We would prefer that you do not bring more than one person with you. However it is advisable not to have a pregnant woman or a small child with you. This is to avoid exposing them to unnecessary radiation. It is also preferable to avoid prolonged close contact (hugging a child / sitting a child on your knee for more than half an hour) for the rest of the day.
You may eat, drink and take your medication as normal. In between the injection and scan you may eat normally, but we would like you to drink at least 5 glasses of fluid, and to empty your bladder frequently. This will make the pictures clearer, and flush out any excess radioactivity from your body.
The needle prick from the injection may hurt a little. Our doctors will be available during your stay in the department to answer any query. Side effects from the injection are extremely rare.
The amount of radioactivity you receive in this study is strictly within the recommended national level. At this level, the benefit to you from a diagnosis of your condition outweighs the risk (negligible) of any harm associated with the radiation you will receive.
You may eat as normal. The more fluid you drink the better, as the radioactivity is passed out in the urine. No extra precautions need to be taken when passing urine.
The Nuclear Medicine doctor will report on the study; the result will be sent to the doctor who requested the study.