Bone scintigraphy — whole body (± three phase)
Whole skeleton; three-phase acquisition where infection is the question
Typical, not policy
Timings, volumes and delays here are representative values drawn from published guidance. Scanner generation, injector, cardiac output and local preference all move them. Confirm against your department's own protocol before you rely on a number.
When to use it
- Skeletal metastasis survey.
- Suspected occult or stress fracture with normal radiographs.
- Prosthetic loosening versus infection.
Technique
- Delayed whole-body imaging typically 2-4 h after tracer injection; three-phase adds flow and blood-pool acquisitions.
Where it goes wrong
- Highly sensitive but poorly specific — degenerative change, trauma and infection all take up tracer, so correlation with anatomical imaging is usually required.
- Purely lytic lesions, notably myeloma, can be photopenic and missed.
Clinical questions that reach this study
Suspected discitis, vertebral osteomyelitis or epidural abscessHip pain with normal radiographs — suspected occult fracture or osteonecrosisSuspected stress or insufficiency fractureSuspected osteomyelitis (excluding spine)Suspected bone metastasesProstate cancer — staging and biochemical recurrence
Contrast
None
Acquisition
Safety checks this protocol carries
Derived from the contrast agent and phases above, not authored here — which is why they cannot drift apart from what the protocol actually does.
- Intravenous access adequate for the planned injection· radiographer at scan
- Pregnancy status before an ionising exposure· radiographer at scan