Biliary Scan

Biliary Scan is a means of assessing the functioning of the gallbladder and biliary tract. This procedure requires you to fast for 6 hours prior to your appointment time.

Billary scan, after 5 minutes.
1: Liver

Billary scan, after 20 minutes
2: Gall bladder, 3: Small bowel.

The Procedure

When you arrive, we will need to put a cannula in your arm, and this cannula is used for all the injections for the procedure. The scan begins with a small injection of radioactive tracer, and we take pictures continuously for 60 minutes. If the gallbladder is not seen by the end of 60 minutes, we may need to wait some time before taking further pictures. In some cases, we shall give you a medication (CCK) to help us visualise the gallbladder or to assess its contraction.

Side effects

There are usually no side effects from the radioactive tracer injection.

Some patients may experience abdominal pain and mild nausea with the medication (CCK) we give you for the extra pictures.

Please advise the Nuclear Medicine Technologist if you are pregnant or breast feeding, or unsure of your pregnancy status before commencing the procedure.

Patient preparation

Food

Please do not eat for 6 hours before arriving. Drinking plain water is allowed.

What to bring

Please bring your referral from your GP or specialist, Medicare Card, and ultrasound images or any other relevant scans.

Clothing

You should wear comfortable clothing. We may ask you to remove metallic objects.