PET Scan Care

• Wear comfortable clothes.
• Do not eat or drink anything, except water, for at least four hours before the scan.
• Check with your doctor about taking your regular medicines.
• If you have diabetes , ask the doctor for specific diet recommendations for the test day, since this can affect your results.
• Tell your doctor if you are or might be pregnant.

A nurse or technologist will give you a radioactive substance. This may be done through an injection, or in some cases, you will be asked to breathe in a gas. It will travel through your blood to the area of the body being studied. It takes 30-90 minutes for the substance to be absorbed by the tissue. Once the substance has been absorbed, the scan can take place.

You will lie on a table and be moved into a machine that looks like a large, square doughnut. This machine detects and records the energy levels from the substance that was injected earlier. The images are viewed on a computer monitor. The scan lasts about 30-45 minutes. You may be asked to perform specific tasks before or during the test. For example, during a heart PET scan, you may be asked to walk on a treadmill.

Drink plenty of fluids to help the radioactive substance pass from your body.

At least two hours

Except for the pinprick from the injection, a PET scan is a painless procedure. People who are claustrophobic (uncomfortable in closed or tight spaces) may have some anxiety .