The scan takes between thirty minutes and an hour. These could be a number of different conditions including cancer and fractures. The radioactive substance helps to show up abnormalities in the bone. The camera passes very close to you but doesn’t touch you. Before the scan you will need to empty your bladder. While you are away drink a couple of extra pints of water to flush the injection through your body. The nurse will tell you when to return to the department. This allows the substance time to get to your bones. This is not enough to be harmful.Īfter the injection you can leave the department for a couple of hours. Before your scan you have an injection of a small amount of radioactive substance. Take a look at this short video about having a bone scan.Ī bone scan looks for abnormal areas in your bones. Because of the small amount of radiation from the radioactive tracer you might need to use separate labelled toilets. Or you may need to wait in a separate area with other people having nuclear medicine tests. You might be able to have a walk in the hospital grounds while you are waiting. If you have problems with passing urine you might get different instructions. This flushes the radioactive tracer around your body. Your radiographer asks you to drink plenty while you wait for your scan. These areas of activity (called hot spots) show up on the scan. They look darker than other areas of bone. The radioactive tracer tends to collect more in areas where the bone is breaking down and repairing itself. But normally you wait 2 to 3 hours while the radioactive tracer travels through the blood and collects in your bones. You might have a test scan immediately after the injection. They inject it through a small tube (cannula) in a vein in your arm or back of your hand. They give you an injection of a radioactive liquid called a radionuclide or radioactive tracer. Ask them questions if anything is unclear. When you arrive at the department the radiographer explains what will happen and asks you to sign a consent form. Tell the department beforehand if you have difficulties passing urine, need to pass urine urgently, or have prostate related problems. Your appointment letter will tell you the exact time. You have to arrive at the hospital about 4 hours before your scan. The staff at the department will advise you. So you might want to store enough expressed milk for 1 or 2 feeds beforehand. You might have to stop breastfeeding for a short period of time after having the scan. Phone the department where you are having the scan if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. Take your medicines as normal unless your doctor tells you otherwise. You can eat and drink normally before your scan. You might need to have a CT scan to know exactly where these abnormal areas are. Bone changes can happen for other reasons like arthritis. If there are changes on the scan they may be called hot spots. The scan can take between 30 to 60 minutes, but you'll be at the hospital for several hours.

You have the scan in either the medical physics, nuclear medicine or x-ray department at the hospital. In cancer it is more usual to scan the whole body.Ī large camera (called a gamma camera) scans you and picks up radioactivity. The body gets rid of the tracer through your urine over the next day.Ī bone scan shows up changes or abnormalities in the bones. It is also called:Ī bone scan can look at a particular joint or bone. It is painless and you can go home after the scan. To have the scan you lie down on a couch while the scanner takes pictures. It takes 2 to 3 hours for the tracer to go around the body. You have this through a tube (cannula) into a vein in your hand. While radiation is involved, the amounts are less than a mammogram.A bone scan looks for changes in your bones.īefore the test you have a radioactive tracer injection into your bloodstream. This quick and painless test is performed on a machine called a bone densitometer and is very similar to having an X-ray performed while lying down. By looking at the results and risk factors, your risk for fracture can be determined. Also called dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), or DEXA scan, the bone density test measures the thickness and strength of bones in your spine and hips. Bone density testing can diagnose osteoporosis.

Bone density scan