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The purpose of this study is to take pictures of your body to help the doctor to localise the site of gastro-intestinal bleeding and give appropriate treatment as required.
On arrival we will give you two injections into two different veins situated in your arm or the back of your hand. These are:
- a pyrophosphate dose to activate your red cells.
- a radioactive tracer 20-30minutes later which will attach itself to the red cells.
The second injection will be given to you as a gamma camera is placed over a particular region of your body. For this you will be lying 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 obtain good pictures the camera will be close and you will have to remain still. The pictures take 45-60 minutes. Further pictures will be taken 2-3, 5 and 24 hours later. Each of these sessions will take between 45-60 minutes.
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 needs to be stopped if the mother is undergoing this test. Therefore it is advisable to feed the baby before the injection and to express and discard any milk secreted over the 24 hours following the injection.
We would prefer that you do not bring more than one person with you. 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.
PLEASE LET THE NUCLEAR MEDICINE STAF KNOW IF YOU ARE TAKING ANY MINERALS, PARTICULARY MINERALS CONTAINING IRON OR IRON SUPPLEMENTS. THESE MAY INTEREFERE WITH THE TEST AND YOU MAY BE ASKED YOU TO STOP TAKING THEM. Otherwise you may eat, drink and take your medication as normal.
You may feel a slight pinprick from the injection needle. Our doctors will be available during your stay in the department to answer any queries and to provide medical cover in case of any side effect from the injection we give you (please note that side effects 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 and the result will be sent to the doctor who requested the study. He/she will be able to discuss the results with you in relation to other tests you may have had.