Imaging tests for children

Children are prone to injury and illness. There are times when parents who are worried finally decide to do imaging tests for their child, such as a CT scan or X-rays (X-rays) to get a proper diagnosis. However, one study shows that using too many imaging tests can increase the risk of cancer in children. Then, can children do imaging tests? Check out the following reviews.

Is it true that imaging tests increase the risk of cancer in children?

Dilanisr from WebMD, a study shows that children who have had CT scans more than three times the risk of developing brain tumors or leukemia. However, the research is still controversial. The reason is, it takes a large amount of radiation to develop brain tumors or leukemia in children.

If only more than three times or three times as much, it means the radiation is still low to trigger cancer. In other words, experts estimate that it takes 10,000 CT scans to cause cancer. Although the radiation is very small to increase cancer, too frequent imaging tests will certainly cause side effects in the future.

The need for imaging tests for children

Imaging tests for children are very helpful for doctors to diagnose a disease. Moreover, children often have difficulty conveying what they feel when they are injured. Although research on imaging tests can increase cancer has not been proven correct and may cause concern you, the wise step you can take as a parent is not to force your child to take imaging tests when it is not needed.

The child's body is indeed sensitive to radiation and too much radiation to the child is certainly not good in the future. Therefore, it should be noted that not all diseases or injuries in children require imaging tests. So, parents should first discuss with the doctor whether the child really needs imaging tests or not.

What can parents do if a child has to undergo imaging tests?

There are several illnesses or injuries in children that require imaging tests, for example trauma to the head from a fall or blow, chronic headaches, seizures, as well as a diagnosis of appendicitis. To get a proper diagnosis, doctors still need imaging tests.

If the doctor requires the child to do imaging tests, you don't need to worry. Choosing a pediatric hospital and doing imaging tests at the hospital is safe for children. Because the hospital has adjusted the low radiation dose on the scanning machine for the size of the children.

You need to ask the doctor's consideration first, which imaging tests should be done by the child. Because CT scans have higher radiation than X-rays. However, the radiation dose in both of them must be adjusted according to the child's dose.

You can also ask the doctor some questions if you are still unsure about the safety of your child by doing imaging tests. Then, keep notes or the results of the scans the child has done. This allows the child not to have repeat imaging tests in a short period of time.

Then, preventing injury or injury to the child will certainly reduce the chances of the child undergoing imaging tests. You should still supervise your child while playing and regularly check your child's health as an early detection if your child has a disease.