Since the most commonly used compounds for contrast enhancement are gadolinium-based, which is toxic, would drinking very little water over the e.g. 5 hours after the MRI procedure result in some long-lasting effect (from disposition of gadolinium)?
Or can drinking a lot of water after that 5 hours can make up for drinking very little water over the 5 hours?
Toxicity of gadolinium-based contrast agents can generally be classified as acute (short term) and chronic (longer term) and include¹:
Additionally, there is evidence that a small amount of contrast agent is retained in various tissues of the body (including the brain), for years¹, or potentially for life. The health effects of this gadolinium remain unknown.
Chronic kidney injury after gadolinium administration is overwhelmingly seen among individuals with pre-existing kidney disease¹.
There is some experimental evidence in animal models and retrospective review of patient data that suggests adequate intravenous hydration may decrease the risk of kidney injury².
However, for individuals without kidney disease, I can find no evidence that hydration, either IV or oral, would have any clear effect on any adverse effects of gadolinium.
