Pleural Aspiration
What are the prerequisites for having a pleural aspiration done? Pleural fluid may require aspiration as a therapeutic procedure (for…
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There are no pre-requisites for this study.
This study may not be suitable for pregnant women. The benefit versus risk should be discussed with the nuclear medicine specialist.
Women who are breastfeeding and people who are the primary or sole carer for small children may need to make special preparations after the test to stop breastfeeding for a short time and to avoid close contact with young children due to the small amount of radioactivity released for a while after the test. Patients should discuss this with their referring doctor or the nuclear medicine practice where they will have the test for details. See nuclear medicine for further information about the precautions to take with nuclear medicine studies for breastfeeding patients and those in close contact with children.
There are no relative contraindications. Even very obese patients whose weights exceed the limitation of a scanner could theoretically be scanned sitting up with a single headed gamma camera.
The likelihood of a serious allergic event is extremely unlikely. There is a theoretical infective risk with any test requiring parental administration which should be minimal with standard universal precautions protocol. There is also the theoretical risk of administration of the wrong labelled blood if the “in vivtro” or the “in vitro” method is used. This risk is minimised by standard protocols for the administration of blood products practised by all departments.
The alternatives are an echocardiogram, gated computed tomography or gated magnetic resonance imaging. The gated blood pool scan is much less operator dependent and has the potential advantage of better reproducibility. In an obese patient the effect of soft tissue attenuation is likely to be less of a problem than for an echocardiogram. An echocardiogram however can provide a lot more information with more accurate measurements of cardiac chamber sizes, and it allows the assessment of heart valves. Gated CT and gated MR studies are new techniques that are not yet widely available and their indications are still being refined.
Page last modified on 26/7/2017.
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RANZCR® intends by this statement to exclude liability for any such opinions, advices or information. The content of this publication is not intended as a substitute for medical advice. It is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient and his/her doctor. Some of the tests and procedures included in this publication may not be available at all radiology providers.
RANZCR® recommends that any specific questions regarding any procedure be discussed with a person's family doctor or medical specialist. Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, RANZCR®, its Board, officers and employees assume no responsibility for its content, use, or interpretation. Each person should rely on their own inquires before making decisions that touch their own interests.