Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast)

The abdomen is scanned before dye and again after it, in one appointment, so the radiologist can see how a spot in the liver or pancreas behaves as blood carrying dye washes through it. That behavior over time is the diagnosis. The pelvis is not included in this code.

This explanation has not been reviewed by a person yet.

What it is

The liver and the pancreas have an unusual blood supply, and the things that grow in them can be told apart largely by how quickly they fill with dye and how quickly they let it go. A single snapshot cannot show that. So the scanner runs over the abdomen with nothing injected, establishing a baseline, and then again once the dye has arrived — sometimes more than once after, at set intervals. What the radiologist reads is not any one image but the pattern across them. A fatty deposit, a benign blood-vessel growth and a cancer can all look similar on a plain scan and behave entirely differently across a series.

Why it is done

To characterize a lesion in the liver that was seen on an ultrasound or a single-phase CT and could not be named
To investigate the pancreas, where the tissue and any mass in it enhance on different schedules
To work up an adrenal nodule, where the rate at which dye washes back out is the measurement that matters
To stage a cancer of the upper abdominal organs, or to reassess one after treatment

What to expect

Several hours of fasting and an IV in the arm are standard. The first pass happens with nothing injected. Then the dye runs and the table moves through again, with a wait of a minute or several before further passes. Patients stay on the table throughout, holding their breath on cue each time, so the appointment feels longer than a routine scan even though each individual acquisition is brief. More passes also mean more radiation than a single-phase study, which is why this protocol is reserved for questions that need it.

Questions worth asking

Multi-phase scanning is one code, however many passes were made. Does my statement show one charge or several for the same date?
How many phases does this facility's protocol use for my question, and does a shorter protocol exist that would still answer it?
Would an MRI of the liver, which gives similar timing information without x-rays, cost more or less here?
If this is being repeated at intervals to watch a stable finding, what is the interval, and can it be booked at whichever site in my network prices it lowest?

What Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) costs by state

Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Texas — 114 hospitals, median $2,963.80
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in California — 90 hospitals, median $2,496.00
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Florida — 71 hospitals, median $6,259.05
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Ohio — 68 hospitals, median $1,483.20
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Illinois — 51 hospitals, median $2,681.40
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Virginia — 43 hospitals, median $1,890.50
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Tennessee — 38 hospitals, median $653.07
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Wisconsin — 33 hospitals, median $2,091.54
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Pennsylvania — 32 hospitals, median $1,477.80
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Washington — 32 hospitals, median $1,728.48
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Iowa — 30 hospitals, median $2,096.64
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Michigan — 27 hospitals, median $2,131.00
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Indiana — 26 hospitals, median $911.50
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Kentucky — 26 hospitals, median $2,275.80
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Georgia — 25 hospitals, median $1,888.77
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Arizona — 23 hospitals, median $515.31
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in New York — 22 hospitals, median $210.66
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in New Jersey — 21 hospitals, median $537.42
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Missouri — 20 hospitals, median $1,302.84
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Minnesota — 19 hospitals, median $2,673.60
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Colorado — 17 hospitals, median $7,983.37
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Oklahoma — 17 hospitals, median $2,158.00
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in West Virginia — 17 hospitals, median $1,247.00
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in North Carolina — 15 hospitals, median $2,143.33
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Nebraska — 13 hospitals, median $1,476.60
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Oregon — 13 hospitals, median $1,227.75
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Arkansas — 11 hospitals, median $2,193.75
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Kansas — 11 hospitals, median $6,423.56
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Mississippi — 11 hospitals, median $974.16
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in South Carolina — 11 hospitals, median $1,941.50
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Maine — 7 hospitals, median $2,503.35
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in South Dakota — 7 hospitals, median $2,796.00
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Alaska — 5 hospitals, median $3,591.12
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Nevada — 4 hospitals, median $2,473.74
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in North Dakota — 4 hospitals, median $2,938.40
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Wyoming — 4 hospitals, median $1,227.00
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Hawaii — 2 hospitals, median $838.72
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Maryland — 2 hospitals, median $160.80
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Montana — 2 hospitals, median $1,629.60
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in New Mexico — 2 hospitals, median $2,887.92
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in Louisiana — 1 hospitals, median $489.58
Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost in New Hampshire — 1 hospitals, median $3,125.30

Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) prices at hospitals

See every published price for Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast): the full national range, the state and hospital breakdowns, and which hospitals charge the least.

Abdominal CT scan (with and without contrast) cost — see all prices →

Sources

MedlinePlus: Abdominal CT scan (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)
RadiologyInfo (RSNA and ACR): Abdominal and Pelvic CT (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)
Wikipedia (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)

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