Form: D-3349 Gallium Scan Information for patients and families Your scan has been scheduled for: Appointment 1: Injection Date: Time: Appointment 2: Scan Date: Time: Location: Toronto General Hospital 585 University Ave. Medical Imaging Reception 1st Floor, Peter Munk Building To cancel or reschedule your appointment call 416 340 3311. What is a gallium scan? A gallium scan is a nuclear medicine test. A small amount of radioactive material is injected into your body. This material gives off energy. Then, pictures are taken of your body to help your doctor find things like: • infections • abscesses (gathering of yellowish liquid or pus) • certain types of tumours How do nuclear medicine tests work? Nuclear medicine tests are different from x-rays. X-rays show what your body looks like. Nuclear medicine tests show how your body and organs are working. Before a nuclear medicine test, something called a radiopharmaceutical is put in your body. A radiopharmaceutical is radioactive. This means it gives off energy. To get the radiopharmaceutical in your body, you will: • swallow • breathe in • or get an injection (a needle) It will travel to the part of your body that your doctor wants to see. For a gallium scan, we inject a small amount of a radiopharmaceutical called gallium in your body. When it reaches the right area, we will take pictures of you. We will use a special machine called a gamma camera. It takes pictures of the energy coming from the gallium. Nuclear medicine tests can help find problems that other tests can’t find. 2 What can I expect? There are 2 separate appointments for the gallium scan: 1. Injection appointment • We will decide the area of your body that we want to scan. • We will inject a small amount of gallium into your vein in that area. • You can go home. You will come back to the hospital in 2 or 3 days for the scan appointment. 2. Scan appointment • You will lie on a scan bed so we can take pictures of your body. • It will take 30 minutes or up to 2 hours. How long it takes depends on how much of your body we need to scan. Are there side effects? There are no side effects from the test. You can go back to your normal activities once your appointments are over. Your doctor will get the results. How do I prepare for the scan? 9 Eat and drink as you would normally before each appointment. 9 Bring your Ontario health card (OHIP card) for both appointments. If you do not have an OHIP card, please bring another form of government-issued photo ID (such as a driver’s license, passport, or other provincial health card). 9 Only if your whole body is being scanned, take a mild laxative (like Dulcolax) 1 day before your scan appointment. 3 9 If you haven’t registered, come to Toronto General Hospital 30 minutes before your appointment. 9 Go to Patient Registration on the Ground floor near the Elizabeth Street entrance. If you think you are pregnant or if you are breastfeeding: Tell technologist before you begin the test if you think you could be pregnant or if you are breastfeeding. • You should not have the injection if you are pregnant or think you could be pregnant. The radioactive material could harm your baby. • You don’t have to stop breastfeeding for this test, but let us know if you are breastfeeding. You will meet with our doctor before the injection. They will answer any questions you may have. Who can I call if I have any questions? At Toronto General Hospital, the Nuclear Medicine department is on the 1st floor. Go to EB1-408, near the Eaton elevators. Call the Nuclear Medicine department at 416 340 3311 if: • you have any questions • you have any worries about the test • you need to cancel or reschedule your appointments Visit www.uhnpatienteducation.ca for more health information. Contact us to provide feedback or request this brochure in a different format, such as large print or electronic formats: [email protected] © 2019 University Health Network. All rights reserved. Use this material for your information only. It does not replace advice from your doctor or other health care professional. Do not use this information for diagnosis or treatment. Ask your health care provider for advice about a specific medical condition. You may print 1 copy of this brochure for non-commercial and personal use only. Form: D-3349 | Author: JDMI Nuclear Imaging | Reviewed: 2019.