This material is taken up by the liver and excreted into the biliary tract. In a healthy person, this material will pass through the bile ducts and into the cystic duct to enter the gallbladder. It will also pass into the common bile duct and enter the small intestine, from which it eventually passes out of the body in the stool. You will receive an injection in your arm of a radioactive compound that will be filtered by your liver, collected in your gallbladder, and excreted into the bowel. The radioactive material is of a very low level and is considered by physicians to be safe.
Patients usually have no side effects from the injection.
For this test, you will lie on an imaging table under a nuclear scanner, which takes pictures of the patient's biliary tract over the course of about two hours. Multiple images are obtained of your abdominal area. The images are then examined by a radiologist, who interprets the results. It is generally a very safe test and is well-tolerated by most patients. Once the gallbladder is seen, either a second injection of the material, or injection of a different substance, is sometimes given to spur the gallbladder to begin excreting the bile.