Nuclear Medicine Unit
Ninewells Hospital & Medical School
Information for Patients
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Nuclear Medicine Unit |
Radioiodine Ablation Therapy
What is the thyroid gland?
The thyroid produces a hormone that regulates how hard the cells of the body are working.
The thyroid gland is found in the neck.
Why do I need treatment?
Ablation Therapy is used as part of the treatment for cancer of the thyroid. The cancer itself is removed by surgery. However, experience has shown that there is a high chance that the cancer will reappear at a later date. For this reason the cancer specialists like to deactivate all the thyroid tissue. Radioiodine can be used to do this.
What is radioiodine treatment?
Radioiodine treatment uses a form of iodine that is radioactive. It deactivates thyroid tissue without the need for surgery. Iodine is taken up by the thyroid gland.
Where else does the radioactivity go?
The thyroid takes up most of the iodine. The rest of the iodine mainly passes out of your body in the urine.
What is involved?
Because the amount of radioiodine used is quite large, you will need to stay in the hospital for a few days.
So that you will pass on as little radiation as possible to others, you will have a special suite to yourself. You will have a TV set, a telephone and your own bathroom.
You will be allowed to receive visitors, however the length of time they can stay will be limited to 1/2 an hour on the first day and one hour on each subsequent day.
How is the Iodine given?
You will be given one or more tablets containing iodine that you will be asked to swallow whole along with some water. The tablets will have no taste to them.
When will I be discharged?
At various points, a member of the Medical Physics staff will measure how radioactive you are by holding a detector towards you.
We will discharge you when the amount of radioactivity in your body has reduced to below a level specified by legislation.
The majority of patients are discharged after two or three days.
Should I take any precautions after I am discharged from hospital?
After you leave hospital your body will still contain some radioactivity therefore it is important that you take some simple precautions to restrict the radiation dose to people around you, especially children and pregnant women. The easiest way to reduce the radiation dose to others is by reducing the time spent close to them e.g. do not sit close to a person unnecessarily, especially if there is a free seat further away.
The lengths of time that the precautions will last depend upon how much radioactivity is left in your body when you are discharged.
Each patient receives a leaflet at discharge detailing the precautions and the length of time each precaution applies.
What sort of precautions will the leaflet ask me to observe?
Special arrangements may be required for your transport home
If you will use public transport we will ask you to limit the time you spend travelling by bus, train etc.
You may travel home by private transport, with a maximum of one other person in the car. You may drive yourself. If you are travelling with someone else, please ensure that you are seated diagonally opposite to the other person.
Travelling on public and private transport
For the two weeks after your treatment, please avoid travelling on public transport as much as possible. This is to avoid being next to the same person for too long. The precautions leaflets will tell you the maximum time you can spend on a bus or train for any one journey.
You may use private transport. However, in the first few days after your treatment, if sharing a car with a friend or member of your family, keep journey times short.
For advice on air travel, please speak to your consultant.
Contact with your spouse/partner
We will ask you to make arrangements to sleep apart from your partner for a period.
Contact with family and friends at home
For the first few days you should limit contact with pregnant women and children under 18 years of age to that which is essential.
The leaflet will give the length of time for which you should avoid close or prolonged contact with adults and a longer time for avoiding close or prolonged contact with pregnant women.
Contact with children
It would be a good idea if you could arrange for your children to stay with relatives/friends for the first three days after your treatment if this was at all possible.
The precautions leaflet will specify periods of time to avoid prolonged close contact with children.
By close contact we mean to be at a distance of less than a metre or 3 feet. It is safe to be in the same room as children but do not hold them close to your neck or sit next to them for long periods. Do not let children sleep beside you.
General hygiene in the house
Whilst you were in hospital, special precautions were needed as your bodily secretions contained small amounts of radioactivity.
By the time of your discharge, your secretions will have returned to normal. There is no need to take any special hygiene precautions when you return home.
Places of entertainment
In order to avoid being next to the same person for too long we will ask you to avoid going to places of entertainment or other places where people are gathered.
Returning to work
It would be best if you did not return to work for a few days. Again the leaflet will specify the period. Although this is recommended, it is not essential in every case, (please read further). If there are problems in doing this, please discuss this with the doctor or physicist.
We will ask you to stay off work for a longer period if your work involves:
If your employer is involved with any type of work which might be affected by radiation, you should notify him/her that you are undergoing treatment with radioactive material.
If you need more information or have any queries do not hesitate to mention them to your doctor at the clinic.
You can obtain more information about the radiation aspects by phoning the Nuclear Medicine Unit.
For any other enquiries Please ask your GP.
Links to other pages Thyroid Cancer Endocrine Entry Page
Ó NHS Tayside; 2006; version 1.0
Disclaimer; no liability whatsoever is accepted for information given and all such information, especially with regard to drug usage (UK version provided), must be checked with a person’s health provider.
The procedures described above are those followed by the Nuclear Medicine Unit at Ninewells Hospital & Medical School, Dundee, United Kingdom. Practice elsewhere may be different. The unit serves patients from Tayside and North Fife. Patients from elsewhere should refer to their local clinicians for advice.