Bone scan

A bone scan involves injecting a very small amount of radioactive material (radiotracer) into a vein. This substance travels through your blood to your bones and organs. As it wears off, it gives off a bit of radiation. This radiation is detected by a camera that slowly scans your body. The camera takes pictures of…

You must remove jewelry and other metal objects. You may be asked to wear a hospital gown. Tell your health care provider if you are or may be pregnant. Do not take any medicine with bismuth in it, such as Pepto-Bismol, for 4 days before the test. Follow any other instructions you are given.

There is a small amount of pain when the needle is inserted. During the scan, there is no pain. You must remain still during the scan. The technologist will tell you when to change positions. You may experience some discomfort due to lying still for a long period.

A bone scan can be used to: Diagnose a bone tumor or cancer. Determine if a cancer that began elsewhere in your body has spread to your bones. Common cancers that spread to the bones include breast, lung, prostate, thyroid, and kidney. Diagnose a fracture, when it cannot be seen on a regular x-ray (most commonly hip…

Test results are considered normal if the radiotracer is present evenly throughout all the bones.

An abnormal scan will show hot spots or cold spots as compared to surrounding bone. Hot spots are areas where there is an increased collection of the radioactive material. Cold spots are areas that have taken up less of the radioactive material. Bone scan findings must be compared with other imaging studies, such as…

If you are pregnant or nursing, the test may be postponed to prevent exposing your baby to radiation. If you must have the test while breastfeeding, you should pump and throw away the breast milk for the next 2 days. The amount of radiation injected into your vein is very small. All radiation is gone from your body…

Kapoor G, Toms AP. Current status of imaging of the musculoskeletal system. In: Adam A, Dixon AK, Gillard JH, Schaefer-Prokop CM, eds. Grainger & Allison's Diagnostic Radiology. 7th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2021:chap 38. Ribbens C, Namur G. Bone scintigraphy and positron emission tomography. In: Hochberg MC,…