prepare for your visit

Like any medical test, the beneficial information gained from the test should outweigh the risk of having the test performed. CT is a very powerful and valuable imaging technique that can provide important and even lifesaving information. Sometimes, however, imaging tests like ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may provide the same information as CT but not expose your child to any radiation. You should ask your doctor and imaging provider whether these alternatives are appropriate for your child’s situation. If a CT is the best test, make sure that your imaging provider uses appropriate low dose techniques to minimize radiation exposure during the test.

Some facilities that perform CT scans on adults do not use radiation dose reduction techniques when scanning children. You won’t know unless you ask, and it is reasonable and within your rights to do so. Your imaging provider should be able to provide you with information about what they do to reduce radiation doses during CT. Other things to ask about include whether the facility has American College of Radiology accreditation, whether the CT technologists are credentialed and if the person interpreting the studies is a board certified radiologist or pediatric radiologist.

While no one can point to a single individual and say that their cancer was caused by medical radiation, there is evidence that exposures to radiation levels found during CT scans may slightly increase the risk of future cancer. The risk for developing cancer is debated and variable, and may be zero, but estimates also range from about one in 500 to one in 10,000 fatal cancers from a single CT scan. This needs to be interpreted against the risk of developing cancer over one’s lifetime. Since the risk of developing cancer in an individual is about one in five during a lifetime, the extra risk from CT is very small.