How  Should You Prepare for PET CT Scan?

•  Patient should be on fasting (6-12 hours) prior to scan.
• Appointment will be given prior to the day of scan.
• If patient is diabetic, and is on medication like METFORMIN, please notify the doctor as Metformin should be stopped two days before .
• If patient is diabetic and using insulin, then should withhold insulin on the day of scan and fasting blood glucose should be less than 150mg/dl.
• Kidney function test should be done.(within 1 weak  of scan is acceptable)
• Patient should be cooperative. If not inform doctor especially if needing sedation.
• If patient had underwent chemotherapy or radiotherapy, notify doctor.
•  Scan is not done for pregnant women unless there is no other test available

Know More About PET CT Scan

During the procedure:

• The PET-CT scan machine is similar to a CT-Scan machine. In terms of shape, the machine is big hollow circular shaped.
• The procedure takes around 3-4 hours to complete and no hospitalization or admission is required and the procedure can be performed in an out-patient facility in the Nuclear Medicine Department.
• During the procedure, a radioactive drug known as tracer is given to the patient. It can either be inhaled, swallowed or injected, depending upon the tissue or organ to be examined.
• The patient is then asked to wait for about 60 minutes(based on tracer)for the tracer to get absorbed in the body.
• Further, the patient is asked to lie down on a thin padded examination table, which slides into the scanner.
• The patient is asked to stay still during the scan, as the images from the scan can get blurred, if the patient moves during the scan. This step takes approximately 30 minutes to complete.
• The PET scan is a painless procedure. However, the patient might feel a little anxiety while in the scanner especially if the patient is claustrophobic. However, if the discomfort level increases, the patient must inform the technician or nurse. In such cases, a drug can be given to calm the patient.
• The images captured during the scan are sent to the lab for further interpretation.

After the procedure:

After the procedure, the patient is asked to change into normal clothes and is advised to drink plenty of water/fluids in order to flush out or remove the tracer from the body. The patient can go home after the PET-CT scan is performed and resume normal routine activities. The patient can drink and eat normally after the PET –CT scan procedure is complete.

The nuclear physician interprets the images from the scan and prepares the report, which will further be handed over to the concerned doctor. The doctor examines the report carefully and discusses the results with the patient in detail. If the report is normal, it means the patient is fit and healthy with no abnormality detected. If the report is abnormal, it means that there are some abnormalities, which would need the attention of the doctor. The cancerous cells appear as bright spots in the image. The bright spots indicate cancer cells with high metabolic activity.