Imaging Patient Information

The radiology department, or x-ray or imaging department, is where radiological examinations of patients are carried out. These include CT (computed tomography) scans, an ultrasounds and a MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans.

There are two types of treatment to open up blocked (‘occluded’) or narrowed (‘stenosed’) arteries without the need for surgical incisions in the skin. 

It is an examination of the oesophagus (food pipe), stomach and the first part of your bowel. Images are taken as you swallow a white liquid (called barium) as it passes into your stomach and small bowel.

It is an examination of the oesophagus (food pipe) and the stomach. Images are taken as you swallow a white liquid (called barium) passes down into your stomach.

An angiogram is a procedure where blood vessels are examined closely, by means of x-rays. 

Inflammation of the cervical nerve roots may cause pain in the neck and/or arm.  A cervical nerve root block may provide some pain relief, but more importantly it may provide diagnostic information for your doctor. 

It is an examination that evaluates the function of your large bowel (or colon). This study assesses how quickly material moves through your bowel. The procedure is carried out by a specialist radiographer.

This is an examination of the bladder using x-ray dye to show the structure and shape of the bladder and occasionally the voiding (emptying) of the bladder.

It is an examination of the lower bowel and rectum using x-rays. The images obtained will help us understand what is causing your symptoms.  

This is a medical examination performed to diagnose and treat disorders of the bile duct, gallbladder, pancreas and liver.

We may need to inject you with a dye, to help with the diagnosis for certain MRI and CT scans. Sometimes this dye can escape from your vein at the place where we inject you. This is known as ‘extravasation’ and can result in a swelling.

Inflammation of the facet joints may cause pain in the neck, back and/or the arms and legs. A facet joint injection provides important information for your doctor and may also provide you with some relief of pain.

A narrow plastic tube is placed through the skin into your stomach. Once in place, the tube can be used to give you liquid food directly into your stomach to provide nutrition.

Learn more about what a general ultrasound is, what happens during the scan, and other key information for patients.

An HSG looks at the inside of your uterus (womb) and fallopian tubes. It aims to show whether your uterus is normal and if your fallopian tubes are damaged.

This is an examination to look at the section of bowel leading to or from your stoma (opening onto the abdominal wall) using x-ray dye. The procedure is carried out by a specialist radiographer.

A myelogram is an x-ray examination of the spinal cord and the space surrounding it. 

Nerve roots can become inflamed due to pressure from nearby bone spurs or intervertebral discs. A nerve root block provides important information for your doctor and may also provide you with some relief from pain.

A nephrostomy is a tube that is inserted using ultrasound and x-ray guidance through a small incision in the back to the central part of the kidney where urine collects. 

Your nephrostomy tube will require changing at regular intervals which can vary from every few weeks to every few months. 

The oesophagus, or gullet, is a hollow, muscular tube which takes food from the mouth down to the stomach. If it becomes blocked, then there will obviously be a problem with swallowing.

Enlargement of the prostate gland can lead to a blockage of the flow of urine. Prostate artery embolisation is a minimally invasive, non-surgical new treatment option for prostate enlargement. 

The PEG is held in place inside your stomach by a circular piece of plastic (the internal flange) about the size of a 10 pence coin. Because of this piece of plastic it is not possible to remove your tube by pulling it from the outside.

This is a technique that deliberately damages the nerve that supplies the facet joint. These nerves are responsible for transmitting the pain that is caused by the facet joints. 

Lymphatic malformations are where the lymphatic system (part of the body’s immune system) has failed to form normally in one part of the body and instead forms fluid filled spaces that may occasionally be painful. 

Following specialised X-ray procedures, it is possible that a small patch of skin may have been exposed to radiation for a long period of time.

Information about the ultrasound clinic you have been referred to.

A liver biopsy is a medical test, where a small sample of tissue is removed from your liver with a needle. The sample is then sent to the pathology department where it is examined under a microscope.  

This is an examination of the tube that passes from your bladder to the outside that carries your urine, using x-ray dye to show the length of the tube from the bladder to the outside.

A varicocele is an abnormality of the veins that take blood away from the testicle. The veins become bigger and more obvious, rather like varicose veins in the leg. Embolisation is a way of blocking these veins. This makes them less obvious and causes the varicocele to disappear without an operation.

Vertebroplasty is used to relieve the pain caused by compression fractures of the spine, which can be caused by osteoporosis, multiple myeloma or less commonly cancer and trauma.