Preparation
EXAMINATION PROCEDURE
For the examination, you lie on a special couch, which is then moved into the ring of the CT machine. You are always connected to an X-ray assistant via a speech unit. The examination itself usually only takes a few minutes. You may occasionally have to hold your breath for a few seconds. If you have to drink a contrast medium before the abdominal examinations, you should plan about 1 hour for this. Some CT scans require the administration of an iodinated contrast agent through a vein. There are side effects, apart from a quickly transient feeling of warmth, only if you are allergic to contrast media. If a functional disorder of the kidneys or an overactive thyroid gland is known, the contrast agent may be administered using appropriate protective medication. The radiologist will then decide on the use of the contrast medium.
HOW DO I PREPARE MYSELF AS A PATIENT?
When examining the abdominal region, it is often advantageous to abstain from eating. When making your appointment, please ask us how long you should not eat beforehand. Since administration of contrast agent may be necessary, do we need? if available? Laboratory values for kidney and thyroid function (creatinine and TSH). This is almost always the case with examinations of the chest, abdomen and neck region (not the cervical spine!), often with examinations of the brain (skull CT). Please provide details of any allergies or intolerances, known kidney dysfunction or hyperthyroidism. If you are taking certain medications for diabetes mellitus (biguanides, e.g. metformin, phenformin), please let us know. Additional information for patients using these preparations can be found below.
Important for women: Computed tomography must not be performed during pregnancy! Depending on the question, sonography (ultrasound) or magnetic resonance imaging is then available as an alternative
If you have previous images of the CT examinations, please bring them with you. This allows any changes to be diagnosed more quickly.
INSTRUCTIONS FOR PATIENTS WITH DIABETES MELLITUS
Taking the preparations with metformin represents a slightly increased risk when using iodinated contrast media, especially in patients with impaired renal function. It is therefore particularly important that the kidney function is checked before the examination. If available, please bring the results of the blood test with you (creatinine value). If these are not available, the drug must be discontinued 48 hours before the examination.
If the creatinine level is normal, you can take metformin, but the blood levels should be checked about 2 days after the administration of the contrast medium.
INVESTIGATION PROCEDURE
For the examination, the breast must be compressed for a short time. This is completely harmless, but can be perceived as unpleasant by some women. The examination itself takes only a few minutes. After the mammography images have been taken, one of our medical specialists will examine you and discuss the result with you in detail.
HOW DO I PREPARE MYSELF AS A PATIENT?
Special preparation is not necessary. On the day of the examination, you should not powder or apply cream to the chest and armpit, as it may make it difficult to carry out the examination and may distort the mammography image. If you already have preliminary images or preliminary findings, please bring them with you to the examination.
INVESTIGATION PROCEDURE
The images are taken by medical technical assistants. The examination takes only a few seconds, after which the images are created digitally with computer support. How much time the doctor needs for the evaluation depends on the findings and the number of admissions. The results of the examination will then be discussed with you by the radiologist.
HOW DO I PREPARE AS A PATIENT?
Special preparation is not necessary.
An exception are special examinations of the abdomen, often with the use of contrast agent. In this case, we will inform you about the preparatory measures before the examination.
If available, please bring any previous findings and preliminary images with you.
INVESTIGATION PROCEDURE
A fluoroscopy naturally takes longer than a single X-ray z.B.am a tripod. However, this does not mean that the radiation exposure would be correspondingly higher. The reason for this is the completely different recording technique, in which image intensifiers with digital image memory provide a significant reduction in the required dose.
The fluoroscopy technique is most often used in our practice to visualize the act of swallowing in swallowing disorders, the passage in the intestinal tract, the processes in defectation in emptying disorders and to visualize the venous vessels.
HOW DO I PREPARE MYSELF AS A PATIENT?
If you have an esophageal porridge swallow or gastrointestinal passage, please come on an empty stomach. You should not eat or drink anything for a few hours beforehand.
EXAMINATION PROCEDURE
The CT scan itself only takes a few minutes. In order to achieve an optimal examination quality, however, thorough preparation is necessary. Therefore, please plan enough time for the appointment (usually 2 hours).
HOW DO I PREPARE MYSELF AS A PATIENT?
You must be sober for 4 hours before the examination, please do not smoke or drink coffee.
As with any other contrast-enhanced CT examination, we need laboratory values in advance, such as the creatinine value (kidney function) and the thyroid values (TSH basal value, T3 and T4).
The cardiac CT examination is not a "lifestyle" examination, not least because of the use of X-rays. Therefore, the indication for the examination should be discussed with your doctor in advance and a referral should be available.
Since our radiological practice does not have a billing license to perform cardio CT and cardio MRI on patients with statutory health insurance, we can only offer you this examination as an IGeL service (individual health service).
INVESTIGATION PROCEDURE
The ultrasound examination is completely painless and harmless. The doctor uses a gel on the patient's skin to optimize the image quality. Then the transducer is guided with gentle pressure over the areas of the body to be examined. The duration of the examination is about 5 to 10 minutes. The doctor will inform you about the results during the examination. If you have any additional questions, the radiologist is of course also available after the examination.
HOW DO I PREPARE AS A PATIENT?
If you have an abdominal sonography, please come on an empty stomach. You should not eat or drink anything for a few hours beforehand. It is particularly advantageous during examinations of the pelvic organs not to empty the bladder beforehand. In all other examinations, there is nothing special to consider.