- With Mayo Clinic radiologist
Brian J. Bartholmai, M.D.
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Question
CT scans: Are they safe?
Are CT scans safe? I read an article that said CT scans may increase my risk of cancer. Is this true?
Answer
from Brian J. Bartholmai, M.D.
CT scans may slightly increase your risk for developing cancer, but this small risk is vastly outweighed by the crucial usefulness of the information obtained by CT scans.
CT scans, like other X-ray imaging exams, involve a brief, targeted exposure to a small amount of ionizing radiation — which is used to create an image of your internal structures. Although CT scans expose you to more radiation than traditional X-ray exams do, they also provide much more detailed images, which allows your doctor to detect and precisely locate a vast array of medical conditions.
Still, it's a bad idea to request a CT scan unless you have symptoms that require one. No matter how small the risk, any exposure to radiation without a definite medical purpose just isn't appropriate.
- Radiation-emitting products: Computed tomography. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. http://www.fda.gov/Radiation-EmittingProducts/RadiationEmittingProductsandProcedures/MedicalImaging/MedicalX-Rays/ucm115317.htm. Accessed Nov. 11, 2009.
- CT - Body. Radiological Society of North America. http://radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=bodyct. Accessed Nov. 11, 2009.
- Stabin MG. Doses from medical radiation sources. Health Physics Society. http://hps.org/hpspublications/articles/dosesfrommedicalradiation.html. Accessed Nov. 11, 2009.
- Safety: Radiation exposure in X-ray examinations. Radiological Society of North America. http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/safety/index.cfm?pg=sfty_xray. Accessed Nov. 9, 2009.
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