In Office Sinus CT: What to Expect

In Office Sinus CT: What to Expect

 

We offer adult and pediatric sinus CTs in our Murfreesboro location. Once your provider orders the CT you will be scheduled by our scheduling department either in office or by phone. You will generally be scheduled for the CT and a follow up appointment for the same day.

Once you are on the schedule I, the CT technologist will call your insurance company to verify benefits and get any type of authorization that may be needed. You will then receive an automated call, typically two weeks before your scheduled appointment, letting you know what your estimated portion of the CT will be. At that point you can call to speak with our billing department to set up a billing arrangement if needed.

There is no preparation for the CT here. If you believe you could be pregnant it is best to reschedule your CT scan until you can confirm with a home pregnancy test, your primary care physician, or your gynecologist.

On the day of your scan you will arrive in the Murfreesboro office and complete normal return appointment paperwork with the receptionist and discuss the amount due for the CT. I will call you back and take you to the CT room. You will have a consent form to fill out once in the room that gives me permission to scan you, the physician permission to interpret, and also makes you aware of any radiation exposure risks. If you have any questions regarding this form it will be addressed at that time. You will be asked to remove anything metal from the chin up (glasses, earrings, other facial piercings, bobby pins, hair clips, partial dental plates, dentures, etc). You may also be asked to remove any headbands or hats.

You will then sit upright in a chair and place your head into the headrest which reaches around to the side of your forehead. I will position your head to where it needs to be and place foam wedges on either side of your head to hold your head still. You will be instructed to sit as still as you possibly can. You may breathe and blink normally or you can opt to close your eyes. There will be two white boxes on either side of you that will rotate around your head for a little over a minute. During this time the machine will make a beeping sound. Once the machine stops moving I will look over the images to make sure they are sufficient. If sufficient I will remove the foam wedges and have you put anything you had to take off back on. If the images are not sufficient the error will be addressed and we will have to repeat the scan. I will then go see if your provider has a room available for you and take you to it or back to the waiting room until they have a room open. When it is your time to be seen your provider will review your CT images then come discuss your results.

 

Written by: Makenzie Meredith R.T. (R) / MTENT CT Technologist