How expensive is a bone scan?
Table of Contents
How expensive is a bone scan?
Serious bone loss is called osteoporosis. The test can be a waste of money. A DEXA scan costs about $125. And if your doctor prescribes a drug when you only have mild bone loss, you spend money you don’t need to.
How painful is a bone scan?
While the bone scan itself causes no pain, having to lie still for the length of the procedure might cause some discomfort or pain, particularly in the case of a recent injury or invasive procedure such as surgery.
How long does a bone scan take?
The technologist may ask you to change positions during the scan. This helps to get pictures from different angles. A whole-body bone scan takes about 1 hour to finish. The scan is not painful.
Is a bone scan cheaper than an MRI?
While a traditional bone scan may be a more affordable option, it can sometimes fall short of providing doctors with a detailed image of the area being scanned. That’s where an MRI can be extremely beneficial.
Why would a doctor order a bone scan?
A doctor may order a bone scan to: identify bone cancer. determine whether cancer from another part of the body has spread to the bones. locate hidden bone fractures that do not appear on X-rays.
What are the side effects of a bone scan?
A bone scan generally has no side effects, and no follow-up care is needed. You might be asked to drink a lot of water for the next day or two to flush the tracer from your system. The radioactivity from the tracers is usually completely eliminated two days after the scan.
Do they put you to sleep for a bone scan?
Before the scan, your doctor will ask you to take off jewelry with metal, including body piercings. The actual screening procedure takes about an hour. Your doctor may give you a mild sedative to help you relax if you think you’ll have problems sitting still for that amount of time.
Does a bone scan show all cancers?
Bone scans show changes in your bones, but they don’t tell you if it’s because of cancer or not. You may have to have other tests to figure out what the changes mean.
What diseases can a bone scan detect?
A bone scan can help detect the following conditions:
- benign or cancerous bone tumors.
- secondary (metastatic) cancer to the bone.
- non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
- tumors in the soft tissue.
- arthritis or joint inflammation.
- osteomalacia, or bone softening, due to vitamin D deficiency.
- osteomyelitis, or bone infection.
Will a bone scan show arthritis?
Bone scans are used to detect arthritis, neoplasm, fractures and sports injuries, tumors and metastatic disease, as well as to evaluate unexplained bone pain.
