Preparing for Your Nuclear Medicine Exam

Please leave any personal belongings (jewelry, glasses, etc.) at home when having an outpatient exam performed at any of our facilities to avoid misplacement.

Bone Scan

• No special prep before you arrive, but you will need to drink three to four glasses of water after you receive your injection.

Gastric Emptying

• Fast for a minimum of six hours before the study.

Hepatobiliary Scan with Ejection Fraction (EF)

• Do not eat or drink four hours prior.

Nuclear Stress Testing

• Do not eat or drink for four hours prior.  If you are scheduled for a pharmacologic stress test, refrain from caffeine products 24 hours prior to the exam.

Renal Scans

• Come to the department well hydrated.  Drink two to three glasses of water before your test.

Thyroid Scan

• The patient should refrain from eating shellfish, or other iodine-containing substances such as vitamins and medications, for one week prior to the study.
• Consult your physician regarding withholding specific medications.
• The patient should not have had any iodine contrast studies such as a CT scan for eight weeks prior to the exam.
• No iodized salt for one week prior to the study.