What are nursing interventions after a myocardial perfusion scan?

Usually just monitor: Thee monitoring consists of blood pressure and heart rate observation, and watching for chest pain. If it was an exercise treadmill test, people can have a rise in "vagal" nerve input during recovery, so watch for low heart rates. If medication stress test was done (adenosine or persantine), make sure to watch out for wheezing, which can be triggered in predisposed patients (e.g. With asthma).

Minimal: 1. Encourage good hydration to encourage washout of the tracer from the kidneys. Be careful against over-hydration in cardiac patients. 2. Rest - usually the patient will have undergone an exercise or pharmacologic stress test, and will be tired. 3. As in any cardiac patient, close monitoring is recommended.

Hydration and rest: After a treadmill stress test or a pharmacological stress test, patients sometimes feel tired, therefore rest is recommended. A good hydration will help eliminating radioactivity through kidneys but this is contraindicated in some patients with cardiac insufficiency. Coffe or tea is suggested after adenosine. If you feel a persistant chest pain few hours after the test, contact your doctor.