Ct Scan

[Bazile]

A member of the family is due to have a CT scan

The scan is to the thorax abdomen , pelvis - with contrast .

What risk is there from the amount of x-rays used ?

[Buenchico]

Scroll down to 'Safety of CT scans', here:
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/ct-scan/

(They're an absolute doddle, BTW!)

[johnk]

None

[Gill1941]

None.
I had one a week ago for abdomen and pelvis with contrast.
Only took half an hour including ten minutes waiting afterwards to make sure no reaction to contrast.
As Chris says, an absolute doddle.

[Ringlet]

There would only be a risk from x-ray if the family member is female, of childbearing age, and could possibly be pregnant.

[Peter Pedant]

yeah I thought this was an X ray question and not a contrast question

small

Generally, the amount of radiation you're exposed to during each scan is equivalent to between a few months and a few years of exposure to natural radiation from the environment.
( clearly not me writing: all sentences have main verbs and orthonormal spelling)

The typical CT radiation dose is 10 to 20 millisieverts (mSv), which is associated with a lifetime risk of fatal cancer of approximately one per 2,000 CT scans.

( one CXR: is 0.1 mSv - so a CAT scan is 100-1000 times one CXR which is about right)

the thing is that what they are looking for is far more dangerous than the risk from a CAT scan

[someone asked, miss, someone asked, honest]