Your doctor has requested a Esophageal Transit/Aspiration study. The information below will answer some of the questions you may have.
This study is a simple and painless way of taking pictures of your ability to swallow and to check if you have any reflux back into your lungs.
Esophageal Transit study only (30 min):
When you arrive in the Nuclear Medicine Department, a technologist will explain the entire procedure to you and then give you the opportunity to ask any questions. Before the procedure begins, you will be asked to do a practice, where you will swallow some water. This is to make sure you are comfortable with the procedure. You will then be asked to do the same thing, but this time the water will be mixed with a small amount of radioactivity. There are no known side effects from this drink. The technologist will take several pictures of the swallowing process with the help of a special detector, called a gamma camera. The entire procedure will take about 30 min.
Aspiration Study: (Up to 6 hours):
In some cases, your doctor is checking to see if you have any reflux back into your throat and lungs. In this case, in addition to the esophageal transit study, we will perform an aspiration study. After the above procedure is completed, the technologist will give you an additional drink of some orange juice with a radioactive tracer mixed with it. Once you drink this, you will be asked to lie down on an imaging table. The technologist will use a special detector, called a gamma camera, to take pictures of your chest at intervals of 2, 4 and 6 hours or until aspiration is identified. If your doctor has requested the aspiration study, it will take most of the day to complete.
- Bring your Health Card.
- You are required to fast overnight and cannot have anything to eat or drink until the test is complete.
- You will be required to refrain from smoking for a minimum of 2 hours before your appointment.
- Since there may be a few hours waiting time between imaging during this procedure, it may be beneficial to bring some reading material. There is free Wi-Fi available.
- Please leave all valuables at home.
- Please notify our booking office at the time of scheduling your appointment if you have any concerns regarding claustrophobia, lying still, require a mechanical lift for transfer to the imaging bed, have a language barrier or any other special needs, so that appropriate arrangements can be made ahead to provide you with the best possible care.
This procedure is painless.
The amount of radioactivity used for this test is quite small and the dose will disappear by itself after two days. The results of your scan will give your doctor useful information about your condition and will help them plan your treatment. The benefits of having the scan far outweigh any potential risk from the small radiation dose.
No special precautions are needed after the scan. If you are travelling across any borders in the seven days after your scan, please ask us for further advice. Border crossings and airports have very sensitive radiation detectors which may pick up tiny amounts of radioactivity remaining after your scan. We will give you a letter that you can show to customs officials at border crossings or airports.
Please tell us if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
Breast feeding must be interruption of 4 hours after the exam, during which time one milk meal should be pumped and discarded. Prepare for your exam accordingly.
A specially trained doctor will examine the pictures. This is normally done soon after the end of the scan. A report is then sent to the doctor who asked us to do the scan. Your doctor will normally receive the report within one week. You will also have access to the report on MyChart as soon as it is released.
If you have questions about the scan results or report, please contact your doctor directly. They are best able to interpret the report for you.
No. This test is paid for by the healthcare system. The test costs several hundred dollars, so please notify the department at 613-761-4831 if you cannot make your appointment.
If you cannot make your appointment, it is important that you notify the department at 613-761-4831 as soon as possible. Failure to make your appointment results in wasting of expensive materials that are ordered especially for your appointment and also reduces availability to other patients. Missed appointments may also result in delays of your treatments.