Nuclear Medicine

What to Expect

Your child may receive isotope injection by either mouth or bladder. Depending on the type of scan, we may also have to insert a small catheter into your child's bladder, so your child may experience some discomfort.

Your child may need to be sedated. Learn more about how to prepare for sedation and how to prepare for your child's medical imaging procedure.

A special camera and computer create images of the area within your child's body that the doctor needs to see.

Most visits take up to three hours since many of these exams require several pictures to be taken at different times.

After the Exam

Isotopes are normally excreted via the kidneys or through stool and are gone from your child's system within three days. Your referring physician typically receives results within 48 hours of the exam.

Expertise

Since the 1950s, nuclear medicine has been a specialty for Lurie Children’s, with the hospital's pediatric radiologists pioneering procedures that today are commonplace in pediatric nuclear settings throughout the world.

Our radiologists, all certified by the American Board of Nuclear Medicine, have developed a dosing regimen that keeps administered radiation doses at the absolute minimum necessary to obtain the required diagnostic results. Learn more about our leadership role in the Image Gently campaign.

Contact Us

To schedule an appointment, please call 312.227.4277. X-rays and ultrasound studies may be scheduled, rescheduled, and canceled through mychart.luriechildrens.org.

For other questions or concerns, or to speak with a radiologist, please call 312.227.4500.

Requesting Medical Records

Click here to access portions of your child's electronic medical record online or request printed medical records by fax, mail or in person, and read frequently asked questions about the process.