The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has issued a new report on the subject of x-ray exposure and pregnant women. The report, Pregnancy and Medical Radiation (Publication 84), is written primarily for physicians who manage pregnant patients, as well as for healthcare facilities that employ pregnant physicians and technologists.
The report deals with issues such as the effects of in utero radiation, when the use of ionizing radiation might be appropriate for pregnant women, and the difficulties of dealing with patients who might be pregnant and not know it.
The report recommends that every woman of reproductive age should be asked if she is or could be pregnant prior to x-ray examination. In addition, any woman of reproductive age who is presenting for an x-ray study at a time when a menstrual period is overdue or has been missed should be considered to be pregnant. Physicians might want to order pregnancy tests for patients receiving high-dose fluoroscopy of the abdomen or pelvis.
| Download portions of the ICRP report in PDF format. |
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By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
July 17, 2001
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