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What Causes Difficulty Swallowing After Having Barium Swallow?
Question: Hello I am a twenty five year old male. My question today is about overexposure to radiation from medical procedures. Since early January of this year I have had a chest Xray taken on January 23. I had and endoscopy done on January 28. I had a chest Xray taken on January 29 as well as a CT scan of my chest and abdomen with contrast which revealed I had pneumonia. I had another chest Xray on February 5. I had another CT scan with contrast on February 25 to make sure the pneumonia was gone. I had a colonoscopy done on February 29. Most recently I had a barium swallow done on March 14. My dentist took two Xray's of my teeth on March 24. Tomorrow I am scheduled to have a modified barium swallow which will hopefully reveal why I am having trouble swallowing. I want to know if I should have it done tomorrow or if I should wait. How much radiation should a person have per year? Am I over the limit with the amount of procedures I have had done. What is the chance of my getting sick or getting cancer?
Thanks.
Thanks.
Brief Answer:
if procedure is justified, it has to be done
Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for your query.
I understand your concerns. I would like to inform you that there is no upper limit on radiation exposure for medical diagnostic procedures. While every effort should be taken to prevent unnecessary investigations, if an investigation is justified, then it has to be done. The potential benefits outweigh the harms in that case.
Xrays and barium swallow have much less exposure as compared to CT scans and probably all the x-rays combined together have contributed only a small fraction of the total exposure and this barium swallow will not change it much.
Colonoscopy and endoscopy don't have any exposure.
I don't think that these investigations have increased your chances of cancer. If this barium swallow is necessary according to your doctor, you should get it.
Hope this helps.
Regards
if procedure is justified, it has to be done
Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for your query.
I understand your concerns. I would like to inform you that there is no upper limit on radiation exposure for medical diagnostic procedures. While every effort should be taken to prevent unnecessary investigations, if an investigation is justified, then it has to be done. The potential benefits outweigh the harms in that case.
Xrays and barium swallow have much less exposure as compared to CT scans and probably all the x-rays combined together have contributed only a small fraction of the total exposure and this barium swallow will not change it much.
Colonoscopy and endoscopy don't have any exposure.
I don't think that these investigations have increased your chances of cancer. If this barium swallow is necessary according to your doctor, you should get it.
Hope this helps.
Regards
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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