bone scan - Osteoporosis Message Board

twisten · 09-14-2003, 03:55 PM

Hi everybody. I'm scheduled to have a bone scan done and was wondering if you guys could give me any info on it? I have no idea what to expect. Is it an x-ray or is it more like an mri or a ct scan? Do you have to be sedated? Thanks in advance for any responses.

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Hmm where should I begin?? Crohn's disease, sacroiilitis-crohn's related, scoliosis, spina bifida occulta, chronic myofascial pain, tmjd and migraines. Still waiting for bone scan and bone density test to tell me what else is wrong with me!! Too many surgeries to list!!

bjg · 09-15-2003, 06:02 AM

if what you are having is a bone density scan..there is nothing to it..you lay on a table and a machine passes over you from you waist to your feet a couple of times..then you get up..its all over

NancyH · 09-15-2003, 10:40 PM

There is a bone scan that is very different than a Dexa scan. If you are talking of the official bone scan they inject you with a radioactive substance into your vein, wait a couple hours come back and lay on a table while a scanner slowly scans entire body, not painful but time consuming, like 45 minutes or so, if it shows any high uptake around the bones it can signal inflamation,cancers, bone deformities etc. I've had it done twice back in the early 90's. The Dexa is nothing!

[This message has been edited by NancyH (edited 09-16-2003).]

Anxiety Man · 09-16-2003, 09:41 AM

Hello, twisten--My wife had the bone scan done a couple of months ago--no problem. No pain or discomfort at all. As Nancy said, they inject the dye, you come back in 2 or 3 hours, get scanned and GO! No ill effects from the dye at all with my wife.
You should do just fine.

Tony

twisten · 09-16-2003, 05:54 PM

Thanks for the response everyone. This is a 2 part test so I'm assuming I will be injected with the dye because I get to leave for about 2 hours and then return for the last part of the test. Thats what my paper says anyway. They are looking for signs of inflammation in my joints and/or bones and to see if I have osteoporosis. Thanks again.

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Hmm where should I begin?? Crohn's disease, sacroiilitis-crohn's related, scoliosis, spina bifida occulta, chronic myofascial pain, tmjd and migraines. Still waiting for bone scan and bone density test to tell me what else is wrong with me!! Too many surgeries to list!!