A new study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the journal of the American Gastroenterological Association, indicates patients suffering from GI disorders like inflammatory bowel disease may receive significant levels of diagnostic radiation as part of their treatment, according to a news release.
The study looked at data on 2,590 patients who were diagnosed with GI disorders from January 1999 to January 2009, with diagnostic imaging performed on 57 percent of the patients.
Results showed higher levels of annual and total diagnostic radiation exposure were associated with IBD and other GI disorders. Higher total exposures were seen in a small number of young patients with functional GI conditions.
"Most patients with gastrointestinal disorders had diagnostic X-rays performed at some point during their work-up, with older age and longer duration of follow-up both increasing the chances of having multiple X-rays performed," said Alan N. Desmond, MB, BMedSc, MRCPI, of the Cork University Hospital, Ireland, and lead author of this study, in the release. "In this study, we were particularly interested in patients whose cumulative radiation exposures were in the top ten percent for the entire population. The majority of these patients were being investigated for inflammatory bowel disease. The most concerning finding might be that more than half of the patients in this higher exposure group were younger than 35 years of age."
Alternative, radiation-free imaging options are available, but evidence-based guidelines on the use of diagnostic imaging in patients with GI disorders are needed.
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