PET/CT whole body scans are used to look for disease, inflammation or infection in your body.
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What is it for?
To identify physiological changes in your body
On this page
Overview
How does it work?
The PET (positron emission tomography) identifies physiological changes in your body. The CT scan shows the bodies’ structure.
Combining the two scans together gives a more accurate picture of disease or infection in your body.
Important points before your scan
Please inform the department if you are diabetic and give as much information to the scanning department as possible to make your scan easier. If you have recently had a radiology examination at another hospital such as CT, MRI or a nuclear medicine study, it would be helpful if you would bring these results with you
Please do not eat for six hours before your test. This includes tea, coffee, milk, sweets, cough medicine, fruit juice, and alcohol.
Do not have any cough medicine, or any oral preparation for any other tests, glucose drips, TPN (Total Parenternal Nutrition) or insulin for 6 hours before the test.
- Do not exercise before your test
- Do not have a barium test 10 days before your test
Unless indicated by your consultant, you should not have chemotherapy for 10 days or radiotherapy for three months before your scan.
If you are unsure about any medications you are taking please inform the department the day before your test.
FAQs
There are no immediate side effects. You are radioactive for six hours in total. The amount of radioactivity injected is relatively small and has a half-life of 110 minutes. Most of it is passed out through the kidneys.
We advise you to stay away from young children and pregnant women for four hours after you leave the department. You can eat, drink and travel as normal after the test. The test is quite safe except for a possible effect on the baby in pregnant women. The test is not advised if you are pregnant or are breast feeding.
Before the scan a technologist will explain the procedure, give you an opportunity to ask any questions and go through a checklist of questions.
They will then put a cannula in a small vein in your arm. After measuring your blood sugar levels the technologist will inject a small amount of radioactive sugar (18F FDG) into a vein in your arm. The injection will not make you feel any different or have any side effects.
You must then wait for one hour in our comfortable PET/CT uptake room. During this time it is important that you are as relaxed as possible and warm. You cannot read or listen to music during the hour. Please note you must wait in the uptake room for one hour without a relative, friend or carer. If this is not possible please inform the department before your test so we can accommodate you.
After the hour we will ask you to lie on your back on the scanning table. Again, depending on the indications for performing your test, the scan will take between 20 minutes and 45 minutes. Most scans are approximately 20 minutes.
After the test the technologist will check the quality of the scan and let you know when you are free to leave. Please allow approximately 2.5 hours for your appointment.
We offer Fixed Price Packages
Where possible, we’ll provide a fixed-price package for your hospital care. This covers your hospital stay, nursing, and use of our facilities, giving you a clear guide to what those costs will be.
- Pre-op assessment
- Hospital stay, nursing care and meals
- Tests, scans and physio during your stay
- Take-home medication (up to 5 days)
- Post-op follow-up appointments
- Standard equipment or prosthesis (if needed)
- Unplanned extended stay or ITU (if clinically required)
- Initial consultation and any tests done during it
- Consultant and anaesthetist fees (quoted separately)
- Physio or therapy before or after your stay
- Diagnostics before admission (unless agreed in your plan)
- Specialist medication beyond 5 days
- Ambulance transport or bespoke prosthetics
Your consultant’s fees are quoted separately and shared directly by their office after your consultation. These professional fees cover the time, expertise, and care provided by your consultant before, during, and after your treatment. See our full terms and conditions
Why choose The London Clinic?
Trusted for over 90 years, The London Clinic is an independent charitable hospital that reinvests into care, research, and support for those who can’t easily access private treatment.
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We’ve teamed up with Chrysalis to offer you funding options that allow you to spread the cost of your treatment.
If you choose to pay for your treatment at The London Clinic over 12 months, you can make use of a great 0% interest option and pay nothing extra. Or you can choose to pay over two to five years at 14.9% APR.
Trustees of the London Clinic Ltd trading as The London Clinic is an Appointed Representative of Chrysalis Finance Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The London Clinic is a credit broker, not a lender. The provider of a payment scheme which is not offered through or by Chrysalis Finance Limited may not be so authorised and regulated. Cancer treatments or transplants aren’t covered by finance packages. Finance options are only available for UK patients.