“My son suffered from severe pneumonia 5 months back. Will the X-rays that were taken cause him harm in the long run?”
My son is 8 years old and 5 months back he was hospitalised for pneumonia. During the course of hospitalisation multiple scans and X-rays were conducted to keep a track of his health. Will all of this have an adverse impact on him in any way?
7 Answers
no
No. The radiation exposure is less than an airplane ride across the US.
Dr Cox
Dr Cox
PROBABLY NOT.
The short answer is no. There are many factors involved including the number of X-rays and scans, but with today's modern equipment, X-ray exposure is kept to a minimum, particularly for pediatric patients. The amount he was likely exposed to should not have a significant effect.
There is very little chance that there should be any long-term effects. The risk from the radiation received far outweighs the benefit he received from the treatment his providers were able to offer him by following the course of his illness with the X-rays.
The pneumonia that your son experienced is likely to have more of an influence on his life than any of the X-rays which were taken to follow the course of his disease. It is always best to keep X-rays at a minimum, but there are no guarantees in life. I hope your son is feeling much better now.
Almost certainly not. The environment constantly emits radiation to an estimated effective dose of 3/Sv/yr. A 2-view chest X-ray has an effective dose of up to 0.1 mSv. Cross country air travel has a 0304 mSv effective dose. So, a chest X-ray here and there is not harmless, but there is not conclusive that directly links diagnostic X-rays to the development of cancer later in life. In almost every instance, the benefits far outweigh the risks. All the best and hope your son is doing well.
