What happens at a CT scan?

[Ifailed]

After a chest x ray, I've got an appointment for a thorax CT scan with contrast. Never had anything done like this before, can anyone talk me through what happens? Apparently I'm supposed to drink 1 litre of water in the hour before hand, which will be a struggle.

They'll ask you some questions (eg could you be pregnant?) and place a cannula into a vein to give you the contrast. Then they'll get you to go into the scanner room and lie down and position you correctly. They will probably check the cannula is working and then they will start putting in the contrast, which may make you feel a bit weird. You'll then be left alone in the room for the scan but someone can always see and hear you. After a short delay the machine will speak to you and tell you to hold your breath and the scanner will move and make some noises. That's pretty much it unless there's been an issue getting the images. They won't tell you anything about the scan at the time as the person running the scan won't be interpreting the pictures.

thanks. How long would that typically take?

What's the contrast for?

The scan itself takes 5-10 seconds, you will be on the table for about 2-3 minutes and the whole appointment will probably take about 15 minutes.

The contrast is a dye. They take pictures before and after they put the contrast in. The scan itself is only a few minutes.

thank you all. Got a better idea of what it's like. Still not looking forward to drinking a litre of water in an hour.