Imaging Patient Information

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

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

Information for patients about bleomycin sclerotherapy used to treat vascular and lymphatic malformations. 

This page has information for patients referred for CT colonography at North Bristol NHS Trust with a 20ml bottles of Gastrografin for preparation. 

This page has information for patients referred for CT colonography at North Bristol NHS Trust with a 100ml bottle of Gastrografin for preparation. 

This page has information for patients with constipation referred for CT colonography at North Bristol NHS Trust. 

This page provides information about new guidance for breastfeeding people undergoing contrast-enhanced MRI and CT scans.

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.

Information about contrast enhanced ultrasounds. 

This page has information for patients referred for CT abdomen and pelvis with 48 hour preparation at North Bristol NHS Trust. 

Information about an examination of the bladder using X-ray dye to show the structure and shape of the bladder and occasionally the micturating (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.  

A DXA (Dual energy X-ray Absorptiometry) scan is used to measure the density of your bones in order to see if you have osteoporosis. 

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.

Information about what to expect when coming in for an ultrasound scan. 

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.

Information for patients about medial branch blocks for diagnosis. 

This information is for people with loop recorders who have been sent for an MRI scan at North Bristol NHS Trust.

Information about what to expect from your MRI arthrogram

Information about MRI prostate scans for patients at North Bristol NHS Trust. 

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

Information about nasogastric/nasojejunal tubes inserted to give fluid, medications, and nutrition. 

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.

Paclitaxel-coated balloons or stents to treat narrowing in a blood vessel. 

Information for patients whose initial preparation of your bowel has not been sufficient to produce a diagnostic result from your examination, a further 24 hours of additional bowel preparation is required.

Information for patients considering Prostate Artery Embolisation (PAE) for the treatment of their lower urinary tract symptoms.

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. 

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.

Information for patients about ultrasound guided liver biopsy. 

Information for patients about Uterine Fibroid Embolisation (UFE). 

This is an examination of the tube (urethra) that carries urine from your bladder to the outside of your body. Using X-ray dye, the length of the tube from the bladder to the outside will be demonstrated.

This page is patients whose doctor has requested that you have sclerotherapy.

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.

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.

Information about what to expect when coming for a CT scan

Information about CT virtual colonoscopy where carbon dioxide is used to inflate the colon (large bowel) so the CT scanner can put together a detailed 3D model of the colon. 

Information about what to expect when coming in for an MRI scan

Information for patients about nuclear medicine scans at North Bristol NHS Trust.

This page contains information for patients who have had a CT colonoscopy at North Bristol NHS Trust.