Radiation risks from imaging of intestinal and abdominal inflammation.

Most abdominal imaging procedures involve some radiation dose to the patient. The types of radiation-induced harm from these techniques are described. The dose received from each of these techniques in clinical practice is thought to be below the threshold required to cause developmental abnormalities in pregnancy. According to the present state of knowledge, there is no significant risk of genetic damage to the patient from any of these procedures. Organs vary considerably in their sensitivity to radiation-induced cancer. The effect of radiation on any organ depends on the radiation dose to that particular organ only. The most radiosensitive organs are bone marrow, lung, stomach and large bowel. The macroscopic and microscopic distribution of radiation dose is discussed for all of the various imaging techniques. There is a large dose variation between individual patients and the mean dose received from each procedure is similar for each of the imaging techniques described, the mean radiation dose is low and the decision as to which test to choose depends more on the diagnostic value of each particular procedure.