Hida Scan: he scan involves injecting a radioactive tracer into a person’s vein. The tracer travels through the bloodstream into the body parts listed above. A special camera takes pictures to track the tracer’s movement and transmit images onto a computer screen for observation and diagnosis. This article discusses HIDA scanning and outlines what a person can expect before, during, and after the procedure.
Pregnant women will not usually be given a HIDA scan as there may be a potential risk to the fetus. Breast-feeding women will be advised to avoid feeding their infant for several days following the scan to ensure the radioactive tracer has left their system.
What Is A Hida Scan
A hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid (HIDA) scan is an imaging procedure used to diagnose problems of the liver, gallbladder, and bile ducts.
For a HIDA scan, also known as cholescintigraphy and hepatobiliary scintigraphy, a radioactive tracer is injected into a vein in your arm. The tracer travels through your bloodstream to your liver, where the bile-producing cells take it up. The tracer then travels with the bile into your gallbladder and through your bile ducts to your small intestine. A nuclear medicine scanner (gamma camera) tracks the flow of the tracer from your liver into your gallbladder and small intestine and creates computer images.
If you’re having problems with your gallbladder, your doctor may want you to have a special test called a hepatobiliary iminodiacetic acid (HIDA) scan. During the procedure, a technician injects a tiny amount of a radioactive compound into your bloodstream. As it travels through your liver, gallbladder, and small intestine, a camera tracks its movement and takes pictures of those organs. A HIDA scan shows how well your gallbladder is working. It can also check your liver function since these two organs work closely together.
- Gallstones
- Bile leakage
- Cholecystitis (an inflamed gallbladder)
- Blocked bile ducts
- Congenital bile duct defects (problems you were born with)
Hida Scan Results
A HIDA, or hepatobiliary, the scan is a diagnostic test. It’s used to capture images of the liver, gallbladder, bile ducts, and small intestine to help diagnose medical conditions related to those organs. Bile is a substance that helps digest fat.
This procedure is also known as cholescintigraphy and hepatobiliary scintigraphy. It might also be used as part of a gallbladder ejection fraction, a test used to measure the rate that bile is released from your gallbladder. It’s also often used along with X-rays and ultrasound tests.
HIDA scans can be used to help diagnose a variety of diseases. These include:
- gallbladder inflammation, or cholecystitis
- bile duct blockages
- congenital bile duct abnormalities, such as biliary atresia, a rare condition that affects infants
- complications following operations, including bile leaks and fistulas, or abnormal connections between different organs
HIDA scans may also be used to evaluate a liver transplant. The scans may be done periodically to make sure the new liver is working properly.
A HIDA scan involves some special preparation:
- Fast for four hours prior to your HIDA scan. Your doctor may allow you to drink clear liquids.
- Inform your doctor about all medications and supplements you are taking.
- Let your doctor know if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
Once you arrive at your local hospital or medical imaging center, an imaging technician will ask you to:
- change into a hospital gown
- remove all jewelry and other metal accessories home before the procedure Here’s what to expect at your HIDA scan:
- An imaging technician will instruct you to lie back on a table and stay very still. They will position a camera called a scanner above your belly.
- The technician will put an IV (intravenous) needle into a vein in your arm or hand.
- The technician will inject a radioactive tracer into the IV so it enters your vein.
- The tracer will move through your body’s bloodstream to your liver, where bile-making cells absorb it. Then the tracer will move with the bile into your gallbladder, through the bile duct, and into the small intestine.
- The technician will control the camera so it takes images of the tracer as it moves through your body.
- The technician may also inject a type of pain medicine called morphine through your IV line. This can help move the tracer into your gallbladder.
Hida Scan With Cck
Cholescintigraphy or hepatobiliary scintigraphy is scintigraphy of the hepatobiliary tract, including the gallbladder and bile ducts. The image produced by this type of medical imaging, called a cholescintigram, is also known by other names depending on which radiotracer is used, such as HIDA scan, PIPIDA scan, DISIDA scan, or BrIDA scan. Cholescintigraphic scanning is a nuclear medicine procedure to evaluate the health and function of the gallbladder and biliary system. A radioactive tracer is injected through any accessible vein and then allowed to circulate to the liver, where it is excreted into the bile ducts and stored by the gallbladder until released into the duodenum.
In the absence of gallbladder disease, the gallbladder is visualized within 1 hour of the injection of the radioactive tracer. If the gallbladder is not visualized within 4 hours after the injection, this indicates either cholecystitis or cystic duct obstruction, such as by cholelithiasis (gallstone formation). This investigation is usually conducted after an ultrasonographic
of the abdominal right upper quadrant for a patient presenting with abdominal pain. If the non-invasive ultrasound examination fails to demonstrate gallstones, or other obstruction to the gallbladder or biliary tree, in an attempt to establish a cause of right upper quadrant pain, a cholescintigraphic scan can be performed as a more sensitive and specific test. Cholescintigraphic scans are not generally a first-line form of imaging owing to their increased cost and invasiveness.
Cholescintigraphy for acute cholecystitis has a sensitivity of 97%, specificity of 94%. Several investigators have found the sensitivity being consistently higher than 90% though specificity has varied from 73–99%, yet compared to ultrasonography, cholescintigraphy has proven to be superior. The scan is also important to differentiate between neonatal hepatitis and biliary atresia because early surgical intervention in form of Kasai portoenterostomy or hepatoportoenterostomy can save the life of the baby as the chance of a successful operation after 3 months seriously decreases.
Hida Scan Cost
A HIDA scan is most often done to evaluate your gallbladder. It’s also used to look at the bile-excreting function of your liver and to track the flow of bile from your liver into your small intestine. A HIDA scan is often used with an X-ray and ultrasound.
A HIDA scan might help in the diagnosis of several diseases and conditions, such as:
- Gallbladder inflammation (cholecystitis)
- Bile duct obstruction
- Congenital abnormalities in the bile ducts, such as biliary atresia
- Postoperative complications, such as bile leaks and fistulas
- Assessment of liver transplant
Your doctor might use a HIDA scan as part of a test to measure the rate at which bile is released from your gallbladder (gallbladder ejection fraction). If you’ve had a liver transplant, a HIDA scan can also check to make sure your new liver is working like it should.
How long does it take for a HIDA scan test?
How long does a HIDA scan take? A HIDA scan typically takes between one hour and one-and-a-half hours to complete.
Is the HIDA scan painful?
You’ll lie down on an imaging table. A technician will give you a special radioactive chemical through a vein in your arm. It shouldn’t hurt, but it may feel cold. You might also feel a little pressure as the chemical enters your bloodstream.
