CT Scans and contrast injection .. Advice please?

Hiya, I am having a CT Chest/ Abdo with contrast and CT Pelvis with Contrast Xray examinations tomorrow. Can someone walk me through what the procedures involve please? I remember around 10 years ago having dye injected into my fallopian tubes and it hurt like crazy!!

Thanks :)

I have had high white blood cell count for a while now and suffer really bad night sweats so the hemotoligist (sp?) wants me to get this done.. is it just a needle in the arm for all body parts?

Hi, I am a CT Tech so I will walk you through the typical cat scan. Number one thing. Do not eat or drink anything after midnight the night before. If you have something in your stomach, the contrast will make you sick. You may have to drink some oral contrast before your scan, if so you would already have been told that. The technologist will probably have you fill out a questionairre or will ask you a set of questions about medical history, allergies, etc. The technologist should also inform you of the risks associated with receiving the contrast. The technologist or a nurse will start an IV in your arm. You will lie on your back on the table and the table will move in and out of the gantry (donut-shaped tube) The IV contrast will be injected with an automatic injector, and the machine will begin scanning. The chest abdomen and pelvis can all be scanned with one injection. There may be a delay of a few minutes or so between the abdomen and pelvis, as it takes about 4 minutes for the contrast to reach your bladder. Whenever the scan is done, the IV will be removed and you will be able to leave. The injection will temporarily make you feel hot, like a hot flash, it may make you feel like you are peeing in your pants and it may give you a metallic taste in your mouth. These symptoms are normal and only last a few minutes. If you feel itching or trouble breathing, let the technologist know ASAP as this could be signs of an allergic reaction. Let me know if you have any questions.

Nothing like that they just put a small canula/needle in your arm and inject a dye into it. You wont even feel it

CT isnt supposed to be painful. I dont think the contrast hurts more than the normal IV infusion. Are u sure it was contrast in the fallopian? Well that is also possible if there was some narrowing or something.

Anyways, to your question. . . IF the dye is being injected it would be trying to come to a diagnosis. In normal X-ray you cant tell much, same with CT. It gives alot of Info but injecting the Dye Highlights the areas where there can be blockades or narrowing.
They'll probably infuse & very quickly start taking off the pictures on the computer.
I think its being done to distinguish whether wat u complain is a problem in the abdomen or the pelvis if U dont have two seperate complaint.


Just wondering .. . wat complaint do u have?

Hiyas Back,
both are not too bad I have to have them every 3 months due to cancer and the worst thing about them is the contrast (I'd rather chug down sewer water straight from the source haha) you have to drink the night before!! My hospital makes you drink 2 bottles one the night before one a few hours before the test and a cup when you get there for the test (seems they don't trust you haha). Anyway they just open an iv line and put you on the table in the machine and inject the dye in when they're supposed to. You run thru the machine a few times holding your breath for about 10-15 seconds each time so it can take nice pictures for the drs to laugh at and probably sell on Ebay. It all takes about 15 minutes once they get you all ready (the iv line open etc). It's not that bad really (course I'm not afraid of needles so I can say that). Good luck

I have had many CAT scans. Sometimes I have to drink contrast (called Prep CAT) and that is horrible tasting. Other times, the contrast was injected via an IV. If you are having the contrast injected, ask them to do it slowly. Sometimes I felt like a hot sensation around the genital region and a metallic taste in my mouth as the dye was going into my body. Both things were unpleasant, but not painful. The test isn't painful if you are not claustrophobic. You are in a tube like machine. They will tell you when to breathe and when to hold your breath. The machine whirs and makes noise, but it doesn't hurt. Good luck on your test, I hope you are OK.