Radionuclide imaging in the gastrointestinal tract

Diagnostic imaging tests utilizing radiopharmaceuticals and nuclear medicine technology have been used by gastroenterologists for decades to aid in clinical decision making. Both nuclear medicine diagnostic imaging and therapy are in a period of rapid growth, with new drugs, scanners, and therapies. A radiopharmaceutical is a chemical, drug, or molecule bound to a radionuclide. The radionuclide gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding study has been used clinically for decades. Because bleeding is typically intermittent and the bleeding may have ceased when the symptoms of GI bleeding manifest, angiographers often request that the radionuclide GI bleeding study be performed prior to contrast angiography, for two reasons. First, if the radionuclide study is negative, a contrast study is likely also to be negative. Second, if the radionuclide study is positive, the results can guide the angiographer to the approximate bleeding site, saving time and contrast media.