What is a bone scan for?!
Question: The doctor said my brother has a back fracture...but wants to give him a bone scan.... not an mri... does something sound wrong about that? i thought a bone scan was for cancer??? can anyone enlighten me???
Answers: The doctor said my brother has a back fracture...but wants to give him a bone scan.... not an mri... does something sound wrong about that? i thought a bone scan was for cancer??? can anyone enlighten me???
A bone scan is a nuclear scanning test that identifies new areas of bone growth or breakdown. It can be done to evaluate damage to the bones, detect cancer that has spread (metastasized) to the bones, and monitor conditions that can affect the bones (including infection and trauma). A bone scan can often detect a problem days to months earlier than a regular X-ray test.
it is jus to check whether the bone is actually broken or not. but as you say it could be for cancer as well
A bone scan is done to:
Determine whether a cancer from another area, such as the breast, lung, kidney, thyroid gland, or prostate gland, has spread (metastasized) to the bone. See an illustration of a bone scan showing the spread of cancer.
Help diagnose the cause or location of unexplained bone pain, such as ongoing low back pain. A bone scan may be done initially to help determine the location of an abnormal bone in complex bone structures such as the foot or spine. Follow-up evaluation then may be done with a computed tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Help diagnose broken bones, such as a hip fracture or a stress fracture, not clearly seen on X-ray.
Detect damage to the bones caused by infection or other conditions, such as Paget's disease.
its nothing to worry about it may not be cancer
Nope. Bone scans are used to determine bone density. Perhaps the doctor thinks your brother could have osteoporosis. How did your brother break his back?
Not just cancer....Sometimes they can check for bone density and all sorts of things. Obviously they are checking just to be on the safe side...
i dont know