Can doctors refuse to give a PET scan to patients after cancer surgery?
There are probably many reasons why a PET scan was not recommended. But what comes instantly to mind is that you would certainly not have a PET scan following surgery as the results could be inconclusive. i.e. The area of your surgical operation would be inflamed and the PET scan would show all that area lit up like a Christmas tree! Potentially a false reading! Other reasons that a PET scan may not be appropriate include; – If you are pregnant or breast feeding, as the radioactive isotope injected into your bloodstream could be dangerous to the infant/baby. – if there is a chemical imbalance in the body. eg. the scan may give false results if you have eaten within a few hours of the scan, or if you are diabetic. – PET scan is only useful for detecting the cancerous cells within a given mass which is typically greater than 1cm in size. If there is no mass then it won’t detect anything smaller. – and lastly, depending on which country you live, PET scan are subsidised for only certain t
