PET Scan, Nuclear Imaging and Incontinence

PET scan and other nuclear medical imaging are commonly used among cancer patients (among others). Because of a diagnosis and treatment I received a number of years ago, I have to have yearly PET scan follow ups to make sure no new growths emerge.

I’m wondering if any of you who experience incontinence have had PET scans? If so, did you disclose this? Was there an issue? Did you have to be catheterized during the procedure or were diapers ok...or did you have to go without anything?

I’ve been dealing with a bout of bedwetting and also some urgency during the day. (Yes, i have seen a urologist and am working on some treatment options with him.) At present, I’m worried about making it through my 90+min scan ( I know from past experiences) without being in pain or leaking. I’m having a hard time finding details online about what happens for incontinent people having this kind of scan - I do know that urine after a pet scan is radioactive for 12 hours or so - and that they encourage people to really over hydrate before it and after to flush it out. I also know that they take you to the bathroom immediately before the scan so as little radioactive material as possible shows up in the bladder. I can only guess that the urine would show up very bright in a diaper or wet clothing!

Thanks for sharing your experiences on this. I’d just like to know what to expect - and to plan how I should talk with the nurse/tech who does the scan.

Despite a cancer diagnosis, I have yet to have a PET scan. Should it rear its ugly head again, I suspect I will.

Based on what I have observed and what medical professionals I have spoken with, tell them and they will either diaper you or cath you. They deal with bodily functions every day.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Scaramouche said:

Despite a cancer diagnosis, I have yet to have a PET scan. Should it rear its ugly head again, I suspect I will.

Based on what I have observed and what medical professionals I have spoken with, tell them and they will either diaper you or cath you. They deal with bodily functions every day.

Good luck and keep us posted!

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Sorry to hear about your diagnosis! Even with the major advances in treatment for cancer, it’s still very scary and often life-changing. In my case, PET is part of the best practice management post treatment. All things look fine for me and prognosis is super good on average. But I have to be prudent and glad my docs are!

Guessing there’s someone on here with experience having PET while incontinent - while of course not wishing that kind of disease on anyone!


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While I’m certainly glad if there is no one here with PET scan experience (as it denotes likely major health problems), I just want to bump this to see if it wasn’t seen

If you have incontinence and have had a PET scan, did you disclose your condition? Was it a big deal? Did it create any problems? Did they have to catheterize you? Did you wear a diaper or pad?

Thanks again


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Given two days time, I'm guessing other members haven't had a PET scan regarding incontinence. I haven't though I have had an EMR for my back. Since I'm not incontinent, I can't answer the diapers vs. catheter question for you.

I'm incontinent and have cancer and have had a PET scan. You have to remain very still for a long period of time (45 minutes).
My PET scan was primarily for my abdomen and torso.
Last one was in September 2017 and I am pretty sure that I wore a diaper and it was not a problem.
I don't remember being wet after the scan.

Just disclose or ask the technicians when you arrive if it is a problem or not. If they don't want you to wear a diaper, they can put a chux pad down.

LittleICme said:

I'm incontinent and have cancer and have had a PET scan. You have to remain very still for a long period of time (45 minutes).
My PET scan was primarily for my abdomen and torso.
Last one was in September 2017 and I am pretty sure that I wore a diaper and it was not a problem.
I don't remember being wet after the scan.

Just disclose or ask the technicians when you arrive if it is a problem or not. If they don't want you to wear a diaper, they can put a chux pad down.

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Thank you for replying. And I’m sorry to hear about your condition. I hope treatment/prognosis is good.

I have had 3 pet scans so far in my life — I think this one will be the fourth...and I still have yearly ones on my calendar for the next few years just to make sure I’m in the green zone. My previous one was a year ago and at that time I was having no urinary issues.

Since then, I’ve developed some urgency and lots of frequency which is still not yet treated because the urologist isn’t sure on causes yet. Anyways, I just was trying to get a handle on what the most common practices are w/ that...if wearing a diaper in the machine is an option...or if they insist on catheters as preventative.

I’d prefer to have a diaper, just in case, and preferably not use it. But I’d also not like to soak all my clothes in urine because I got a painful urge while in the machine. It can be a long time in there and like you say, you can’t move at all while they’re scanning. Even shifting your body around can ruin the image and they have to redo it

So, you don’t recall if you were wearing or not? Did you talk with the technician about it? Is there any chance they catheterized you and you dont remember?

Just curious...


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I had a scan of some kind about 6 months ago. I can’t recall whether it was a PET scan or something else. In any case, I had to lie still inside the scanner for about a half hour. I have frequent urge incontinence and asked whether it would go OK to wear a diaper during the scan. They said yes, and I wore one. I can’t recall whether I wet it or not.

Inconinmiss said:

I had a scan of some kind about 6 months ago. I can’t recall whether it was a PET scan or something else. In any case, I had to lie still inside the scanner for about a half hour. I have frequent urge incontinence and asked whether it would go OK to wear a diaper during the scan. They said yes, and I wore one. I can’t recall whether I wet it or not.

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PET scans are almost exclusively used for cancer or similar diseases - as far as I understand. It is pretty obvious when you are getting this kind of imaging because they inject you with a radioactive isotope using a large syringe that is shielded in a lead tube. It looks ominous and scary. Hard to miss. You then have to lay still for 40-60 minutes, sometimes longer, in a dark room in a chair (not in the machine) before they begin the test. After that waiting, you go into the machine for the 40-60min scan. This all is pretty unique to PET/nuclear imaging machines.

Standard CT scans (in my experience) involve having an IV placed before they put you in the machine; and then while you’re in the machine, they inject a contrast agent that is fast acting. It commonly makes you feel all warm - and they warn that you’ll think you’re peeing your pants because of this. But in a regular CT, you dont have to wait around for the contrast agent to go into effect like you do with PET.

MRI is yet another one...in my experience didn’t involve any kind of injection.



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Definitely was NOT cathed.
Can't recall if I was in a diaper that day.
If you need one just wear one and tell the tech. I am sure it will be fine, but they will tell you either way.

when I had a Pet Scan done, I wasn't incontinent at that time, but since I have been incontinent, I have have lots of MRI's and CT scans for various reasons. Having to wear a diaper hasn't been an issue at all. When I was hospitalized and had these done, it was obvious I was diapered because those gowns don't hide anything, lol, but when I have them done as a walk in, my pants normally stay on and my diaper isn't seen, but they always ask if I need to use the bathroom or is there a chance I may need to go during the procedure. I politely let them know I don't have to go and that I am incontinent wearing a diaper so there won't be a need to go during the procedure. I had a tech one time thanked me for letting them know and she even said that she wished at times others wore them during the real long test it would be so much easier for them and the patient. I was suprised by her saying it but the scans I was having done took about 1.5hrs of laying on your back with your head in a cage so you couldn't move at all. I then really understood why she said what she did. Having to stop testing and remove the devices holding you still takes time and when they have a tight time schedule, it makes it hard to stay on schedule if they have to stop and let someone go pee.

checkingoutall said:

when I had a Pet Scan done, I wasn't incontinent at that time, but since I have been incontinent, I have have lots of MRI's and CT scans for various reasons. Having to wear a diaper hasn't been an issue at all. \

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Thanks for replying. I’ve had MRIs and CTs before as well. The difference with PET scans (and this is the reason I ask) is that the urine is highly radioactive after you get it... So much in fact that that’s why they take you to pee after the requisite resting period following injection, but before the scan. Because urine becomes radioactive, it lights up the bladder and makes it very difficult to see any abnormal growth in it...If there is a wet diaper or wet clothing, it can light up and render the test inaccurate, or get a false positive.

Check out this article on the phenomenon. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2727970/
The authors here warn that it is essential for radiologists and techs to know if patients are incontinent - and that catheterization is a good tool for addressing it in PET scans.

This is what all got me thinking. While I’ve had several PET scans, none of them were when I was having bladder issues like now. I really really want to avoid having to get a foley for multiple days before/after the scan or something like that...it just seems extreme. If that’s the solution, I’d rather not tell them of my trouble at all and just do my absolute best to “hold it” - which is probably a 60-40 chance I can do...

Anyways, the test is still a couple weeks away, so I get to feel anxious about it until then haha
On the bright side, I feel like I have a good marching plan. I asked the same question over on reddit, and a radiology tech replied that I should just show up with several diapers and tell the tech when she injects me. He said it’s possible that If I’m wet when they get to that part of the Scan, they’ll have me change into clean clothes. He said that techs dont do any kind of catheterization or whatever. It was a useful dialogue. And that’s my plan. Show up with several diapers, ready to wear them if needed...or not... Hoping that I dont have the test delayed, or that I have to get Cathed.

I have had everykind of imaging test you can think of at least twice in a diaper, awake, unconscious babbling like an idiot with no idea what I was saying , diapers are s pretty common think seen in radiology.

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cm90210 said:

Check out this article on the phenomenon. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2727970/
The authors here warn that it is essential for radiologists and techs to know if patients are incontinent - and that catheterization is a good tool for addressing it in PET scans.

Click to expand...

Reading this, I don't think you would have to be cathed before or after the test, but they may want to do it during the test if they are scanning down around that area.

Personally I think it would be wise to say something because if they are scanning down in that area and you can't hold it, then they will have stop the test, clean everything up and restart if it's still within the time limits of testing and if not, they you might have to have it done all over again later.

The CT's and MRI's I have had done with the radio active dyes haven't caused any issues so far for me because I didn't wet during the test. If they feel it would be best for me to be cathed at least for that test, i personally would endure my bladder pain they give me so they can get good test results, but if they say I have to stay cathed, then we will have to figure something out, maybe a stint and I use an external catheter, that would be up to my urologist though on that.