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A bone scan can detect disease, infection or injury in your child's bones. Learn how this test is done.

Key points

  • A bone scan is a test to look at your child's bones and check if they have any disease, infection or injury. It takes three to four hours in total.
  • Your child will be injected with a small amount of radioactive medicine and have pictures taken of their bones two to three hours later.
  • After the injection, give your child plenty of fluids and have them go to the bathroom to urinate (pee) often to help their body remove any medicine that did not reach their bones.
  • A nuclear medicine doctor will send the results of the scan to your family doctor or paediatrician (child's doctor) within two working days. The person who does the scan cannot give the results.
Last updated: M12 6th 2013