A new study indicates that most patients and their doctors do not realize how high the radiation dose is from a single CT scan. The study looked at abdominal CT scans, which have an estimated radiation dose equivalent to 100 to 250 chest X-rays. However, 92 percent of patients, 51 percent of emergency department physicians and 61 percent of radiologists estimated the dose as no more than 10 chest X-rays. CT scans can be dangerous and I would highly advise avoiding them if at all possible. In fact, every year 1,500 children will die later in life of radiation-induced cancer from exposure to CT scan radiation.
Radiology May 2004 231:393-398