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Nuclear scanning tests
use a special camera to take pictures of certain tissues in the body after
a radioactive tracer (radionuclide or radioisotope) accumulates in the tissues
to make them visible. Each type of tissue that may be scanned (including bones,
organs, glands, and blood vessels) uses a different radioactive compound as
a tracer. The tracer remains in the body temporarily before it is eliminated
as waste, usually in the urine or stool (feces).
During a gallbladder scan, the
tracer (radioactive technetium attached to a chemical called iminodiacetic
acid) is injected into a vein in the arm. The liver removes it from the bloodstream
and adds it to the bile that normally flows through a network of small tubes
(bile ducts) to the gallbladder. The gallbladder then releases the tracer into the beginning
of the small intestine (duodenum). The scanning pictures are taken as the
tracer moves through the liver and bile ducts and into the gallbladder and
duodenum.
A gallbladder scan can help determine
if the gallbladder is functioning normally and can detect blockage in the
tubes (bile ducts) that lead from the liver to the gallbladder and the small
intestine (duodenum).
Gallbladder Scan Results
The results of a gallbladder scan
are usually available within 2 days.
Gallbladder scan
Normal:
The radioactive tracer flows evenly through the liver and then
into the gallbladder and the beginning of the small intestine (duodenum).
The size, shape, and function of the gallbladder are normal.
The tubes (ducts) leading from the liver
and gallbladder to the small intestine (duodenum) are not blocked or narrowed.
Abnormal:
The tracer may not be removed normally
from the bloodstream by the liver, indicating possible liver disease.
The radioactive tracer may
not reach the gallbladder, indicating inflammation or blockage of the duct
by a
gallstone.
The tracer may not reach the beginning
of the small intestine (duodenum), indicating blockage of a bile duct by a
stone, a tumor, or inflammation of the pancreas. In addition, the gallbladder may not contract
normally.
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