Patient Preparation
No special patient preparation is necessary to carry out this examination.
Some authors have reported that the use of heparin or glucagon previous to administer the tracer would increase the imaging detection rate. In the first case by augmenting bleeding, but this may be risky. In the second case decreasing motility and so retaining the labeled blood in the area of the bleeding GI lumen facilitating localization, but this makes the test more cumbersome.
References:
1 ALLAN O. Santos, Elba C. S. C. Etchebehere, P. Garcia Alonso y EDWALDO E. Camargo. HEMORRAGIAS DIGESTIVAS , p: 249-257 in: Medicina Nuclear Aplicaciones Clínicas. Eds: I. Carrio - P. González. Editorial Masson, Barcelona España, 2003.
2 Patrick V. Ford et al. Procedure Guideline for Gastrointestinal Bleeding and Meckel’s Diverticulum Scintigraphy 1.0 SOCIETY OF NUCLEAR MEDICINE PROCEDURE GUIDELINES MANUAL 2001-2002: 41-48
Home Index Gastrointestinal Bleeding Scintigraphy Study Protocol