Bone scan is an examination of the image that is used, most of the time, to evaluate the distribution of bone-like training or remodeling activity throughout the skeleton, identifying flash points caused by infections, arthritis, fractures, alterations in bone sanguangue circulation, bone prosthesis evaluation, or looking for causes of bone pain such as what.
To perform this test, it is necessary to inject a radiopharmaceutical, such as Tecnetium Galio, in any radioactive substance, these substances are attracted to the bone tissue with the disease after 2 hours, which can be recorded with a special camera, which detects radioactivity. and create an image of the skeleton.
- This test is usually done in hospitals or nuclear medicine centers and should only be discontinued under medical indication.
Bone scan begins with the injection through a radiopharmaceutical that, although radioactive, is given at a safe dose for use in humans, which follow up, if the period of food capture by the population is expected, which will take between 2 and 4 hours. , and the person should be guided on oral hydration between the time of radiopharmaceutical injection and its obtaining.
After waiting, the patient must practice vaccination of his stomach and reach the examination table to start the study, a special camera is used that records images of the skeleton on a computer. The places where the radiopharmaceutical is concentrated but stand out, which means an intense metabolic reaction in the area, as if it were changing in the image.
Bone scan can be performed for a particular area or for body entry, and the scan usually lasts between 30 and 40 minutes, not requiring the patient to help anyone without special care or to discontinue treatment, however, within 24 hours during the exam, the patient should not be in contact with infants , but may be sensitive to radiopharmaceuticals that are removed during this period.
In addition, there is a three-phase bone scan, that is, when it is necessary to evaluate staged gammagraphic images, in this way, in the first phase the blood flow in the bone structures is evaluated, in the second phase, the blood balance in which the bone structure is evaluated and, finally, images of the capture of radiopharmaceuticals by humans are evaluated.
Bone scan may be indicated to identify the following situations
This test is contraindicated in women undergoing embargo or breast-feeding, so it should only be performed under medical indication. In addition to bone scanning, there are other types of scans that are performed on different organs of the body to identify different diseases, such as cardiac scanning.
The result of the bone scan is delivered by the doctor and usually consists of a relationship to the description of what is observed in the images captured during the exam; Analyzing the images, the doctor tries to observe areas called hot spots, which of course are more colorful, indicating that a certain region of radiation absorbed more, suggesting an increase in local activity.
Cold areas, which are the clearest in the images, are also evaluated by the doctor and the lower absorption of pigment by the blood, which could mean reducing blood flow in the area or the presence of a benign tumor, for example.