pediatric bone density scan?

[CloudBee]

If your child has had one, can you share your experience?

- How long did it take?

- Was sedation necessary?

- Did you receive results quickly?

- Were any unknown broken bones revealed? Could they easily see old / healed fractures?

My son is on his 4th lower limb fracture, which is probably a result of his neoplastic disorder. But we are now looking at a a bone density scan in Feb. 

I would love to hear your experiences, as Google is actually not providing much info. Thanks!

[undecidedowl]

I had one as a young teen, so it's been awhile. Procedurally, it's much like having a CT done. You have to be able to lay still for a few minutes at a time. The total time depends on if they are scanning the spine, hip, or whole body to estimate bone density.

Results took about as long as CT results, usually depends on your health system. Mine were probably a day or two. I'm not aware of bone density scans being used to look for broken bones so I can't speak to that. Generally the results compare your bone density to what they expect for your age, size, e.t.c.

[abs]

DD had one to check bone growth. Easy peasy. She just had to stay still during it. No sedation and the whole thing took minutes. We got results within a week.

[redheadbaker]

I've a few done. So easy, completely non-invasive. Like a CT scan or MRI, but not in an enclosed machine, so much less stressful.

If your child takes calcium supplements, don't take any for 24 hours before the scan.

[CloudBee]

This is so helpful. Thank you! My DS does fine with x-rays and needle pokes, but is a beast coming out of general anesthesia. I'm thankful he won't need it! We saw some of his specialists last week, and received an email about this today. They are getting the ball rolling on retrieving copies of imaging he had done locally, and we head to the children's hospital again the first week in Feb.