CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast)

Here the abdomen and pelvis are scanned more than once in the same sitting — first with no dye, then again after dye is injected. The point is the comparison: how a kidney mass or an adrenal nodule changes between the two sets of pictures is often the finding itself. It is one billing code, not two scans.

This explanation has not been reviewed by a person yet.

What it is

Some questions cannot be answered by a single picture, only by a change between two. A lump in a kidney that is already bright before any dye goes in behaves very differently from one that only brightens afterward, and that behavior is often what tells a radiologist whether it is a harmless cyst, a benign growth or something that needs a surgeon. So the scanner runs once over the abdomen and pelvis before the injection and at least once more after it, and the radiologist reads the sets side by side. Covering the pelvis as well as the abdomen matters when the structure in question runs between them — the urinary tract, for example, which starts at the kidneys and ends at the bladder.

Why it is done

To characterize a mass in a kidney, liver or adrenal gland that an earlier scan or ultrasound spotted but could not explain
To investigate blood in the urine, where the whole tract from kidney to bladder has to be seen both before and after dye reaches it
To search for the source of internal bleeding, where the unenhanced images show where blood has already collected and the enhanced ones can show it actively leaking
To follow a finding that was called indeterminate the first time, when a single-phase scan has already failed to settle it

What to expect

Preparation is the same as for any contrast CT: an IV, some hours without food, and questions about kidney function and past reactions to iodine. The difference the patient notices is time on the table. Instead of one pass there are two or more, with a pause in between while the dye circulates, so the appointment runs longer and the total radiation dose is higher than for a single-phase study. The scanning itself is still painless, and the injection produces the same brief flush of warmth and metallic taste.

Questions worth asking

This is a single code covering all the passes. If my bill shows a separate charge for a scan with contrast and another without, on the same date, is that a duplicate?
Would a single-phase scan have answered the same question more cheaply, and was that option considered?
Multi-phase studies take longer to read. Is the radiologist's interpretation priced differently from a routine abdominal CT read?
If this is a repeat look at something already imaged elsewhere, can the prior study be obtained and compared instead of rescanning?

What CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) costs by state

CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Texas — 113 hospitals, median $4,172.12
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in California — 90 hospitals, median $4,472.00
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Florida — 72 hospitals, median $11,648.22
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Ohio — 68 hospitals, median $2,555.25
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Illinois — 51 hospitals, median $4,669.00
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Virginia — 43 hospitals, median $3,493.80
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Tennessee — 38 hospitals, median $1,187.40
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Pennsylvania — 33 hospitals, median $2,985.60
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Wisconsin — 33 hospitals, median $3,550.14
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Washington — 32 hospitals, median $3,684.80
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Iowa — 31 hospitals, median $4,115.15
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Michigan — 27 hospitals, median $4,497.00
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Indiana — 26 hospitals, median $1,649.50
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Kentucky — 26 hospitals, median $5,270.40
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Georgia — 25 hospitals, median $3,133.65
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Arizona — 23 hospitals, median $733.40
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in New York — 23 hospitals, median $422.61
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in New Jersey — 22 hospitals, median $745.58
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Missouri — 20 hospitals, median $2,581.15
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Minnesota — 19 hospitals, median $3,182.40
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Colorado — 17 hospitals, median $13,024.50
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Oklahoma — 17 hospitals, median $2,949.65
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in West Virginia — 17 hospitals, median $2,012.50
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in North Carolina — 15 hospitals, median $3,810.23
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Nebraska — 13 hospitals, median $2,933.70
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Oregon — 13 hospitals, median $2,441.92
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Arkansas — 11 hospitals, median $3,636.10
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Kansas — 11 hospitals, median $9,436.55
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Mississippi — 11 hospitals, median $1,633.75
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in South Carolina — 11 hospitals, median $3,105.60
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Maine — 7 hospitals, median $2,589.55
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in South Dakota — 7 hospitals, median $4,994.40
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Alaska — 5 hospitals, median $6,669.00
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Nevada — 4 hospitals, median $4,330.83
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in North Dakota — 4 hospitals, median $3,004.00
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Wyoming — 4 hospitals, median $1,911.60
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Hawaii — 2 hospitals, median $1,458.24
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Maryland — 2 hospitals, median $211.80
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Montana — 2 hospitals, median $3,617.60
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in New Mexico — 2 hospitals, median $4,115.16
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in Louisiana — 1 hospitals, median $968.76
CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost in New Hampshire — 1 hospitals, median $5,977.35

CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) prices at hospitals

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

CT Scan of Abdomen and Pelvis (with and without contrast) cost — see all prices →

Sources

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

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