no needle to fear: an approach to needle phobic patients

18f-fdg is the most commonly used radioisotope in pet scanning and is administered intravenously. when patients cannot cannulated, there are limited options available for functional tumour assessment. a fifty year old male presented for investigation of a suspected lung carcinoma identified during investigation of pneumonia. the patient had a severe needle phobia, intellectual disabilities and multiple co-morbidities which made cannulation impossible. an alternative administration method was sought, with successful oral administration occurring in both staging and restaging scans. the scans demonstrated resolution of a suspected lung cancer indicating it was an inflammatory/infective process, preventing the need for more invasive investigative approaches. a non-invasive and positive experience allowed for accurate diagnosis and repeat imaging for this patient, enabling follow up imaging to occur. it is reported that oral administration of 18f-fdg may be useful for assessment of suspected cancers for patients where cannulation isn’t possible, when limitations are taken into consideration.