• Your preparation will begin a day or two before your examination. Your doctor will give you specific instructions about your diet and fluid consumption depending on your special circumstances. You may be asked to follow a low residue diet or to drink lots of clear liquids prior to your examination.
• A laxative, suppository, or an enema may be required to clean your bowel. Be sure to follow the instructions provided carefully. If you fail to follow the instructions exactly, the examination may have to be postponed.
• Allow yourself sufficient time for your examination (or multiple examinations if your doctor has ordered more than one for that day).
• Care is taken by the Radiology Department to schedule your examination as early in the day as possible. Since there is always the possibility of an emergency in the X-ray department, and the actual length of time for IVP examinations may vary, it is suggested that you allow at least two hours per examination.
• If there is a possibility that you may be pregnant, be sure to inform your doctor or the technologist before beginning your examination.
• If you have any questions, ask. Your doctor and the staff in the Radiology Department will be glad to provide you with more information.
• REMEMBER: The preparation you are to follow is essential for an examination that will give complete results.
  
  
  THE IVP EXAMINATION
• For your examination, you will be called from the waiting area and taken to a dressing booth. There you will be asked to remove your clothing and put on a hospital gown. For your protection, please keep your valuables with you at all times.
• Once you are in the examining room, the technologist or Radiologist will ask you a number of questions about your health history and reasons why you are having this examination.
• The technologist will take a preliminary film of your abdomen to be sure that the preparation you followed was successful and that no waste material is obscuring your urinary tract.
• Your urinary tract is made up of soft tissues. X-rays pass easily through the soft tissues of your body. In order to make your urinary tract stand out clearly, as bones do, a special contrast media is used which travels through your bloodstream to your kidneys. It is removed from your bloodstream by your urinary tract, so it concentrates there and enables these organs to cast a shadow, which is recorded by the X-ray film. The contrast medium is eliminated from your body in your urine.
• This special medication, the contrast media, will be injected into a vein in your arm. The vein will be made to stand out by a tourniquet. Your arm will be washed off with alcohol. The contrast media will either be injected through a syringe or dripped in slowly through an intravenous bottle.
• As when taking any medication, it is important for you to let the technologist know if you experience any changes in your body or begin to feel uncomfortable. Steps may then be taken to relieve any discomfort you may feel.
• Sometimes special films are taken with the X-ray tube moving above you and the film moving below you. These films are called tomograms.
• Each time an X-ray film is being taken, you will be asked to hold perfectly still and to hold your breath for a few seconds. You may hear snapping and sliding sounds as the film holders are positioned.
• Near the end of the examination, you will be asked to empty your bladder so that a post void (empty bladder) film may be taken.
• The X-ray films are checked by the Radiologist, so you will need to wait while he examines them to make sure that they contain all the necessary information. Sometimes he will ask for special views to be taken.

COMPLETION OF THE INTRAVENOUS PYELOGRAM

• Once your examination is completed, you may get dressed and leave the Radiology Department. No dietary restrictions will be placed on you by the Radiology Department following your examination.
• If you are to take your films with you to your doctor, please let the technologist know. Your films will be interpreted by the Radiologist before you leave the department with them. This way your doctor will be able to confer with the Radiologists about your examination.
• Your doctor will have a typed report sent to him by the Radiologist. He will discuss the results with you and explain their meaning in regard to your health.
• Your X-ray films are kept at the hospital as part of your permanent record.

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Radiologic Studies