Kansas City Car Crash Injuries: Are The Benefits Of CT Scans Worth The Risks?

If you were injured in a Kansas City car accident, your doctor may need to perform imaging tests in order to correctly diagnose and treat your injuries.

CT scans or computerized tomography scans are a form of imaging that allows doctors to see inside the body. These scans take multiple X-ray images from different angles and link together to make detailed images of body tissues and organs. CT scans involve higher doses of radiation than traditional x-rays. A single CT scan may expose you to as much as 500 times the radiation present in an x-ray.

One report compared the amount of radiation that the patient is exposed to in a CT scan to the amount of radiation present after the bombing in Hiroshima. This made national news, so you may have read an article or heard a news story about the dangers of CT scans or the link between CT scans and cancer. Those articles may have you wondering, "are the benefits of a CT scan worth the risks?"

Benefits of CT Scans

• Produce detailed images of structures inside the body
• Eliminate the need for exploratory surgery

Risks of CT Scans

• Involve high amounts of radiation
• May increase lifetime cancer risk
• The risk is significantly higher for children

Studies show that the actual risk of an individual developing cancer from a single CT scan is very low, but the benefits of a CT scan may save a life. CT scans are an invaluable tool for detecting internal injury. Kansas City car accident victims should consider both the benefits and risks of getting a CT scan.

Radiologists say the risk of getting cancer from a CT scan is about the same as the risk of dying in a Kansas City traffic accident in a long car ride. We are Kansas City car accident lawyers, and we know that accidents happen. Yet, the risk isn't enough to stop us from getting in a car. Instead, we take precautions.

However, just as you wear a seatbelt and drive safely to avoid becoming a Missouri accident victim, you should take precautions to protect yourself when getting a CT scan.

• Ask your doctor why you need a CT scan.
• Ask your doctor if there are safer alternatives such as sonography or MRI.
• Make sure the medical center performing the CT scan is fully accredited by the American College of Radiology.
• Keep a record of your exam so other doctors do not have to repeat the test.

The Kansas City car accident lawyers at Kansas City Accident Injury Attorneys help victims of accidents get the compensation and accountability they deserve. We provide important information for accident victims in our book, 10 Essential Steps You Must Take To Protect Your Injury Claim. The book is free if you have been injured in Missouri. To schedule a free consultation, contact Kansas City Accident Injury Attorneys at 888-348-2616.

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