Retrograde Cystography

Overview :

After administration of anesthesia, the doctor will insert a thin, tubelike instrument called a catheter through the patient's urethra and into the bladder. The contrast medium is then injected through the catheter into the bladder. X-ray pictures are taken at various stages of filling, from various angles, to visualize the bladder. Additional films are taken after drainage of the dye. The procedure takes approximately one to one and one-half hours and the patient may be asked to wait while films are developed.

Alternately, instead of a contrast dye and x-ray pictures, the test can be done with a radioactive tracer and a different camera. This is known as a radionuclide retrograde cystogram.