Bone Scan:
A bone scan most commonly involves two steps
The patient arrives 3 hrs prior to the actual scan for an injection of a small amount of radioactive tracer that has been combined ("tagged") with a calcium like material. The injection is done in a vein of the arm or hand. There are no side effects of the tracer so the patient is released from the department for typically a three hour time period which allows the tracer to be absorbed by the bones. No dietary restrictions are involved, the patient is usually asked to drink extra fluids during the 3hr delay. (~32oz.).
After the three hour delay the patient returns to the Nuclear Medicine department for the scan. The patient lies on a flat scan table while the images are acquired, typically a scan will last 45-60 min.
A normal bone scan will have symmetrical uptake of the tracer throughout the whole skeleton. An abnormal scan will have increased uptake of the tracer in areas where bone formation is occurring faster than normal surrounding bone. Some of the reasons for faster bone formation are due to fractures, tumors and infections.
