To assist the surgeon in localizing the lymphatic drainage route for patients with breast cancer.

There are no instructions for the injection portion of this test.

However, you should follow whatever instructions the office gave you for the surgery to follow.

After you have been through the admission process, either the ultrasound or mammography department will send an aide to transport you to their department. 

The radiologist and either a sonographer or a mammographer will explain the process to you prior to injection of the radiopharmaceutical reagent.  You will probably receive 2 small injections around the breast tumor.

Since there is a 2-hour wait before we can start acquiring images, you will be transported back to pre-operative area.

When it is time for your images you will be transported to the Nuclear Medicine department.  You will be asked to lie flat on our imaging bed with your arms in a comparable surgery position. 

The imaging cameras acquire images at different locations around your chest area.  The radiologist might or might not mark your skin.

If you have any technical questions specific to this procedure, please don’t hesitate to ask the radiologist or technologist at injection or scan time.  All clinical questions should be directed to your physician.

A report will be sent to your ordering physician.

Total time takes about 2 hours.  The injection process usually takes about 30 minutes and is performed by a radiologist under ultrasound or xray guidance. 

There is about a 2-hour wait while the radiopharmaceutical reagent is filtered through by the lymphatic system.  Images usually take about 45 minutes.

No complications are expected from this procedure.

Studies of the health effects of radiation have shown that high doses of radiation can cause cancer.  However, this hospital procedure requires that we inject you with a very low level of radioactive material. 

The risk from lower doses of radiation, such as you will receive during this exam, is uncertain.  Most scientists believe that the risk is very small.  Certainly, the benefits received from the exam far outweigh the small risk associated with this procedure