Preparing for the procedure

Pregnant/breastfeeding

If you are pregnant or if you think you may be pregnant, please contact your attending physician. We will decide, in consultation with you and the radiologist, whether the procedure can be carried out as scheduled or whether it should be postponed or replaced with an alternative procedure.

 

Eating and drinking

You are not allowed to eat or drink one hour before the procedure (you may continue to take your medication as usual). We recommend having a light breakfast or lunch on the day of the CT scan.

Clothing

It is more convenient for you and for us if you wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing that is easy to slip on and off. Depending on the type of procedure, you may be asked to remove garments that contain metal. 

Medication

Your attending physician may ask you to temporarily discontinue the use of certain medications. In most cases, however, you can continue taking your medication as usual. We do ask that you bring an up-to-date medical passport with you, which you can request for free from your pharmacy.

Disability

If you think you may need extra time and/or attention during the procedure due to a disability, please let us know in advance. We will take this into consideration as much as possible. 

Stoma

If you have a stoma, we recommend taking an extra stoma bag with you. If you have an ileostomy, please notify the employee who brings you your water. In this case, you will be given less to drink.

In the waiting room

The first part of the procedure starts in the waiting room, where you will be asked to drink between 500 ml and 1 litre of water. In some cases, you may be given a contrast solution to drink instead. You will have thirty to forty-five minutes to drink the water or contrast solution. If you are on a fluid restriction diet, please notify the employee who brings you your water. In this case, you can drink what your diet allows.
You will then be picked up for the second part of the procedure: inserting the IV and administering the CT scan. This will take twenty minutes. The entire procedure will take approximately one hour.

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Patient care Patient examinations CT-scan with drinking constrast solution

What is a CT scan?

A CT scan uses X-rays to produce cross-sectional images of the body, which can be used to examine a specific body part.

About the examination

Preparing for the procedure

Preparations for the CT scan start the day before the procedure is scheduled to take place. Find out which clothes you should wear, what to do if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, what to do if you take medication or have a stoma and the preparations you can expect in the waiting room. read more

What does the procedure entail?

After you've finished your water in the waiting room, we will pick you up for the procedure. We may ask you to remove some of your clothes. read more

What does the procedure entail?

After you've finished your water in the waiting room, we will pick you up for the second part of the procedure. (In some cases, you may be given a contrast solution to drink instead of water.) We may ask you to remove some of your clothes so that no metal is visible in the image. Once the IV has been inserted, you will be slid into the ‘ring’ of the CT scanner on the examination table. This tunnel is 70 cm in diameter and 50 cm deep and is where the images are taken. We will ask you to hold your breath several times.

The entire procedure takes roughly an hour, from the time you enter the waiting room until the CT images are taken.
 

After the procedure

you might experience loose stools. read more

After the procedure

If you were given water to drink, you probably won't experience loose stools.
If you were given a contrast solution to drink, you may experience loose stools for one or two days.

Results

The radiologist who performed the CT scan and/or assessed the images will submit his or her report to your attending physician as soon as possible. Your attending physician will contact you to discuss the results.

More information

How to make or cancel an appointment

Your attending physician will request your treatment and you will receive a notification. read more

How to make or cancel an appointment

Your attending physician will contact us to request a procedure or treatment. We will send you a notification.
If your procedure or treatment is scheduled to take place within the next fifteen weeks, we will notify you as soon as possible.
If you and your attending physician have agreed that the procedure will take place in a few months, you will be notified approximately fifteen weeks in advance (no sooner).

It's important to be on time; if you're late, the appointment may be cancelled. If you are unable to make the appointment, please contact us as soon as possible. You can call the Department of Radiology during office hours from 8.30 am to 5 pm on (024) 361 45 25. If possible, we will schedule a new appointment immediately.