Bone Scan: Why It Is Done

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Why It Is Done

A bone scan is done to:

• Find bone cancer or determine whether a cancer from another area, such as the breast, lung, kidney, thyroid gland, or prostate gland, has spread (metastasized) to the bone. See a picture of a bone scan showing the spread of cancer .
• Help diagnose the cause or location of unexplained bone pain, such as ongoing low back pain. A bone scan may be done first to help determine the location of an abnormal bone in complex bone structures such as the foot or spine. Follow-up evaluation then may be done with a computed tomography (CT) scan or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
• Help diagnose broken bones, such as a hip fracture or a stress fracture, not clearly seen on X-ray.
• Find damage to the bones caused by infection or other conditions, such as Paget's disease.

Last updated:	October 24, 2008
Author:	Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS
Reviewed By:	Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, Myo Min Han, MD - Nuclear Medicine
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Tracy Landauer