Patient Exposure During Radiological Procedures

Is it OK to perform radiological examinations on pregnant women?

Perform radiological examinations even on pregnant women if the examination is essential for diagnosing or treating an illness.

Pregnant women commonly become affected with a disease that requires receiving a radiological examination. However, do not permit worry about affecting the fetus to result in missing the appropriate timing for treating the root disease properly. Inform the radiology department in advance that the patient is pregnant, so that they can take every precaution available to minimize exposing the fetus. In particular, restrict the exposure field so that the fetus is not directly irradiated with X-rays. However, if including the fetus in the exposure field is unavoidable, perform a simulation in advance to estimate the exposure dose. Even regular CT scans of the pelvic area can be performed at exposure dose levels below the 100 milli gray threshold dose level, which requires considering the effects of radiation exposure on the fetus, but the dosage to the fetus can also be reduced significantly by carefully considering the exposure methods in detail. Even in the case of nuclear medicine scans, the exposure dose can be reduced by adjusting the drug quantity administered or increasing the amount of water consumed to promote excretion after the examination, for example.