You must be aware of certain scenarios that are suboptimal for a PET CT scan. Moreover, it is crucial for your doctor to know about your diseases and conditions for them to determine whether you are prepared to be exposed to the radiation or not. Additionally, your doctor should also be made aware of your condition in case you are pregnant or are breast feeding.
You must inform your doctor about your condition in case you are facing any of the following conditions:
- If you’ve ever had a bad allergic reaction
- If you’ve been sick recently or you have another medical condition, such as diabetes
- If you’re taking any medications, vitamins or herbal supplements
- If you’re pregnant or you think you might be pregnant
- If you’re breastfeeding
All the conditions listed or not listed above, that requires you to take certain medications must be communicated thoroughly to the doctors. You should also provide information regarding the type of medication you consume and its frequency. Taking medicine before the test might affect the test, whereas some conditions do not allow the patients to skip the medication. In that case, the best suggestion would be made by the doctors for your health.
Your doctor will also provide you with some additional guidelines to prepare for the scan in the best way to ensure accurate results. However, some general guidelines comprise of avoiding activities that would cause strain a couple of days before the scan.
You should also stop eating at least four hours before the scan. Eating might alter the presence of tracer in the body, ultimately leading to a not so good quality scan. In that case, you might be required to repeat the test.
Even though money is a constraint that may or may not affect people from different backgrounds. Hence, to avoid the waste of time, money and health, make sure you abide by the rules of the preparation for the test.
EXPECTATIONS FROM A PET CT SCAN
WHAT DOES A PET SCAN MACHINE LOOK LIKE?
The PT Scan Machine is a big circle standing vertically with a doughnut like hole through which the patients enter inside the machine for the scan. The CT Scan and MRI machines also have a similar look.
The procedure does take about a couple of hours to get done, however, it does not require an overnight stay at the hospital. You would arrive at the hospital and the same day you would get done with the scan.
However, there are certain preparations you might need to do right before the test. The points that you would be asked to take care of would be as follows:
- You might need to change into a hospital gown. Also, you must ensure you do not have any sort of metal or ornaments on your body. In case, you carry some sort of metal that you would not be able to remove, make sure you inform your doctors about everything positively. After all, this scan also uses radiation to see what is inside your body. Hence, if you do not remove the metal during the scan, it would increase the radiation that your body is exposed to. You must ensure your physicians are aware of the situation at all costs.
- You would also be asked to empty your bladder before the test. This also has the reason of reducing the radiation exposed to your body. Along with it, it is also necessary for you to have an empty bladder so that the images of the scan are clear.
- You would be injected with the radioactive drug which is also called the tracer through your arm by the medical professionals into your vein. While it is being inserted, you might be able to feel a cold sensation moving up your arm. From the moment it is inserted in your body to up to 30 to 60 minutes after that, you would be required to keep your arm and body still. Throughout the process, you would be placed on a chair to rest your entire body. It takes around 30 to 60 minutes for the tracer to spread throughout your body.
WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE PROCEDURE?
To get you ready for the test, you would be asked to lie down on a padded table like thing. That is a part of the scan machine that goes inside the big hole. Once you are ready, you will be slid inside the machine. Since the scan is an imaging technique, a lot of movements from your end can cause unclear image generation. That way the purpose of the scan would be defeated and the test results might not be as clear or even credible at all. Hence, when you are lying on the table, you must be very still for the scanner to trace your body properly. You would be required to stay still for a duration of about 20 minutes while inside.
When you would be getting scanned, you might hear sounds like buzzing, or clicking, so be informed that is how the machine works. Hence, there is nothing to be scared about. There would be nothing physically touching you that you could sense and the test would be absolutely painless.
However, if you are claustrophobic, you might get a little anxious inside the enclosed space. Make sure before the test you communicate the same with your doctor and nurse. To prepare you in such a situation, they might give you a drug that would help you relax. Do not try to deal with it on your own and don’t take any drug that is not prescripted to you.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE SCAN?
Once you are out of the machine, there is not anything you need to do as a compulsion. In case there is something you need to take care of, your doctor will let you know about it. However, it is always good to confirm if there is anything that should be done from your end by the doctors.
However, since you were injected a tracer inside your body before the test, you should drink a lot of fluids to drive the tracer out of your body.
PET CT SCAN RESULTS
After you have completed your full-body pet ct scan, you must visit a nuclear medicine consultant who would be responsible for interpreting your tests. They are the professionals trained in nuclear medicine who would generate the report and send it to your physician.
You might see them comparing your PET CT Scan with the other tests you might have gone through. PET CT Scans can give them detailed information about your condition.To breakdown the functioning, the special camera detects the gamma rays emitted by the radiopharmaceuticals in your body. It then sends the information to the computer which is later generated into a readable image. That image is later interpreted by the radiologists and read by your physicians.
Consult with our Doctor at Kiren pet ct centre in Banashankari, Bangalore.
