Skeletal scintigraphy

Skeletal scintigraphy is used to visualize diseases of the bone metabolism (e.g. inflammatory bone and joint diseases, loosening of an artificial joint) or to diagnose the presence and extent of primary bone tumors and bone metastases. A low-level radioactive drug is injected into the arm vein, which is specifically absorbed by bone-forming cells. The radioactive substance emits gamma radiation, which is recorded with the help of a gamma camera and displayed on a computer.

Examination procedure

In all cases, whole body images of the skeleton are taken about 3 hours after the administration of the radioactive substance. In some cases, it is necessary to take additional images immediately after the injection. The image acquisition time is about 15 to 20 minutes. After the injection with or without early image acquisition, the first part of the examination is finished and you may leave our clinic for about 3 hours. This waiting period is necessary to allow localization of radioactive medication in skeleton and clearance of soft tissues, which increases image quality and facilitates lesion detection.

It is recommended that you drink as much as possible during this time and empty your bladder as often as possible, also after the examination. This increases the quality of the images and the radioactive material is excreted from the body more quickly. After 3 hours you will have to come back and images of the entire skeleton will be taken using a gamma camera showing the distribution of the radioactive drug in your bones. Sometimes additional images are required to map certain regions more accurately. After the images have been evaluated, the nuclear medicine doctor will inform you about the results of the examination. Please consider approximately 6 hours for the examination.