The EANM practice guidelines for bone scintigraphy

TLDR

Bone scintigraphy, a highly sensitive radionuclide imaging technique for detecting active bone formation in malignant and benign disease, remains the cornerstone of skeletal nuclear medicine, though it is not exclusive and its use depends on available resources. The EANM guidelines aim to promote high‑quality nuclear medicine practices and help practitioners optimize and interpret bone scintigraphy. The guidelines outline the currently accepted, routinely used protocols for bone scintigraphy, though they do not cover every existing procedure.

Abstract

The radionuclide bone scan is the cornerstone of skeletal nuclear medicine imaging. Bone scintigraphy is a highly sensitive diagnostic nuclear medicine imaging technique that uses a radiotracer to evaluate the distribution of active bone formation in the skeleton related to malignant and benign disease, as well as physiological processes. The European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM) has written and approved these guidelines to promote the use of nuclear medicine procedures of high quality. The present guidelines offer assistance to nuclear medicine practitioners in optimizing the diagnostic procedure and interpreting bone scintigraphy. These guidelines describe the protocols that are currently accepted and used routinely, but do not include all existing procedures. They should therefore not be taken as exclusive of other nuclear medicine modalities that can be used to obtain comparable results. It is important to remember that the resources and facilities available for patient care may vary.