HIDA Scan:
A HIDA scan is an exam done to evaluate the function of the gallbladder, it also can be referred to as cholescintigraphy. The patient will come for the exam having fasted for 6 hours prior to the study as well as stop taking (6 hours prior) all narcotic pain medication if any has been prescribed to them. The patient will be injected with a tracer and then lie flat on a scan table while a gamma camera takes serial (continuous) images of the tracer to determine if it fills the gallbladder. Once the tracer has filled the gallbladder another drug (cholecystokinin) will be given to make the gallbladder contract and empty, more serial images are taken to help determine how much tracer empties out. Each imaging sequence is about 40 minutes long. This exam can help determine blockages of bile ducts as well as differentiate between chronic versus actue cholecystitis.
