IONIZING RADIATION IN ABDOMINAL COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY: UNINDICATED MULTIPHASE SCANS ARE AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF MEDICALLY UNNECESSARY EXPOSURE

摘要

IntroductionComputed tomography (CT) radiation exposure has come under increasing scrutiny due to dramatically increased utilization. Multiphase CT studies (repeated scanning before and after contrast injection) are potentially important, overlooked source of medically unnecessary radiation due to the dose-multiplier effect of extra phases. The purpose of this study is to determine the frequency of unindicated multiphase scanning and resultant excess radiation exposure in a sample referral population.