Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan)

This scan follows bile, not anatomy. A tracer is injected into a vein, the liver pulls it out of the blood and sends it into the bile, and a camera watches where it goes — into the gallbladder, down the duct, and out into the intestine. It answers questions an ultrasound cannot, because it shows flow rather than structure.

This explanation has not been reviewed by a person yet.

What it is

An ultrasound can show a gallbladder full of stones and still leave the real question open: is anything actually blocked? This scan settles that. A small amount of a radioactive tracer is given through a vein, and because the liver treats it the way it treats the components of bile, it is extracted from the blood and excreted into the bile ducts. A gamma camera positioned over the abdomen records where the tracer travels over the following hours. A gallbladder that fills normally is a gallbladder whose duct is open. One that never appears on the images, while the rest of the biliary tree lights up, points to a blocked cystic duct. Tracer appearing somewhere it does not belong points to a leak. The images are of function, so they take time to develop — this is not a snapshot.

Why it is done

To investigate suspected acute inflammation of the gallbladder, where the key finding is a gallbladder that fails to fill
To look for a bile leak after gallbladder surgery or a liver operation, when pain or fluid follows the procedure
To find the level of a blockage in the bile ducts
To assess how well the biliary system is draining after reconstructive surgery or a transplant

What to expect

You will generally be asked not to eat for a few hours beforehand, because a gallbladder that has just emptied for a meal will not take up tracer. The injection itself is a normal IV injection. The scanning is the long part: lying still on a table under a camera, with images acquired over roughly one to four hours depending on how the tracer moves. It is painless. Some protocols include giving a medication partway through to make the gallbladder squeeze, which lengthens the appointment. The tracer leaves the body over the following day or two, largely in urine and stool. A nuclear medicine physician reads the study.

Questions worth asking

Is the radiopharmaceutical itself a separate line on the bill from the scan and the reading? Tracers are frequently charged on their own.
If a medication is given during the study to stimulate the gallbladder, is that billed as an additional drug charge?
The appointment can run several hours. Does the facility charge by time in the department, or a flat rate for the study?
If an ultrasound has already been done, what does this add, and are both being billed for the same episode?
Is this being performed in a hospital nuclear medicine department or a freestanding imaging center, and what is the price difference?

What Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) costs by state

Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Texas — 116 hospitals, median $1,754.98
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in California — 88 hospitals, median $1,534.00
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Florida — 77 hospitals, median $3,478.29
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Ohio — 67 hospitals, median $1,494.00
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Illinois — 50 hospitals, median $1,515.00
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Virginia — 42 hospitals, median $1,135.50
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Tennessee — 37 hospitals, median $452.25
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Wisconsin — 32 hospitals, median $1,375.00
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Washington — 31 hospitals, median $1,200.00
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Pennsylvania — 30 hospitals, median $1,404.00
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Michigan — 27 hospitals, median $669.00
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Indiana — 26 hospitals, median $1,856.40
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Georgia — 25 hospitals, median $1,078.74
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Iowa — 24 hospitals, median $1,326.98
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in New York — 22 hospitals, median $475.51
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Kentucky — 21 hospitals, median $1,292.79
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in New Jersey — 21 hospitals, median $444.77
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Arizona — 20 hospitals, median $424.25
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Missouri — 20 hospitals, median $1,416.35
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Minnesota — 19 hospitals, median $1,804.00
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Colorado — 17 hospitals, median $4,442.42
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in West Virginia — 17 hospitals, median $688.80
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in North Carolina — 15 hospitals, median $1,438.58
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Nebraska — 13 hospitals, median $965.50
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Oklahoma — 13 hospitals, median $1,288.95
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Oregon — 12 hospitals, median $1,852.15
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Kansas — 11 hospitals, median $3,787.97
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in South Carolina — 11 hospitals, median $1,683.00
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Mississippi — 10 hospitals, median $524.17
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Maine — 7 hospitals, median $1,433.45
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in South Dakota — 7 hospitals, median $1,889.60
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Arkansas — 6 hospitals, median $596.61
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Wyoming — 4 hospitals, median $1,201.42
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Nevada — 3 hospitals, median $1,497.94
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Alaska — 2 hospitals, median $1,449.84
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Hawaii — 2 hospitals, median $373.76
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Louisiana — 2 hospitals, median $379.34
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Maryland — 2 hospitals, median $315.00
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in Montana — 2 hospitals, median $1,071.20
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in North Dakota — 2 hospitals, median $1,564.80
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in New Hampshire — 1 hospitals, median $1,894.00
Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost in New Mexico — 1 hospitals, median not published by hospital

Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) prices at hospitals

See every published price for Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan): the full national range, the state and hospital breakdowns, and which hospitals charge the least.

Gallbladder and Bile Duct Scan (HIDA Scan) cost — see all prices →

Sources

MedlinePlus: Gallbladder radionuclide scan (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)
Wikipedia (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)

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