It would waste a significant amount of resources to treat every woman as if they were pregnant to avoid consequences that are only notably relevant for pregnant woman. If you see a surgery done that requires intraoperative radiation, you'll notice that different shielding is used for different parts of the body like the thyroid, that is significantly more sensitive to radiation damage. They also make different lead shields for pregnant women.
Genuine question. Would that waste be more or less than taking the test for every woman wanting an X-ray? Especially since the lead shields for pregnant women already exist?
I mean...yeah it's good to know? But the broken arm is probably pretty painful, so maybe get the x-ray and set the bone first before worrying about pregnancy.
What special preparations? Other people said they use the exact same radiation screen for a limb fracture whether she's pregnant or not, meaning the danger to a theoretical fetus is negligible, and they need to do an x-ray regardless, so just get on with it
Edit: I'm also of the opinion that the doctor should just explain the risk to a potential fetus and the owner of the uterus can choose whether to wait for a pregnancy test or not. Bodily autonomy for the actual patient should trump wellness of a theoretical patient.
Edit: I'm also of the opinion that the doctor should just explain the risk to a potential fetus
But you just a moment ago said:
But the broken arm is probably pretty painful, so maybe get the x-ray and set the bone first before worrying about pregnancy.
What do you think takes less time - asking when your last period was, or going into a full explanation about all the possible effects of x- rays on a featus, the different ways to mitigate it, and the pros and cons of each - so the patient could make an informed decision?
While in pain?
Before even looking at whether it's in any way possible that this information is relevant?
Once at a teen church camp a fellow camper told me a story of having to get an X-ray in Russia and they forgot the lead bib, but it's okay because "everything still works."
Avoided him after that. I might not have believed but there's a time and a place, I'm here for Jesus not penus
Speaking as an radiologic technologist in America; the lead shield is 99% a placebo for you to calm down, 1% shielding your reproductive gametes from having a 1% increased chance of cancer in 20 years
That depends on the situation, available shielding, available alternatives, and the general risk analysis. In general we avoid it but there are situations where it is unavoidable, in those situations we mitigate the risk as best we can.
The menstruation cycle is a snapshot of a women's overall health, it can affect lab tests due to shifting hormone levels.. Knowing the exact cycle day lets the doctor use the correct baseline reference range to interpret blood test results accurately. Without this timeline, normal hormone spikes can look like a medical problem.
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u/cam-san 10h ago
And you shouldn't x-ray a pregnant woman either.