Estimated Fetal Radiation Exposure With Common Imaging Modalities
| Imaging | Fetal Absorbed Dose (mGy) |
|---|
| Plain radiograph | | | Chest (PA, left) | 0.001-0.002 | | Abdominal (AP) | 1-3 | | Extremities | 0.001 | | Cervical spine | <0.001 | | Thoracic spine | 0.003 | | Lumbar spine (AP, lat) | 1 | | Limited IVP | 6 | | Barium enema | 7 | | Mammogram | 0.2 | | Computed tomography | | | Head | 0.5 | | Chest | 0.1 | | Pulmonary angiogram | 0.2 | | Abdomen | 4 | | Abdomen/pelvis | 25 | | KUB | 10 | | Background (control) | 0.5-1 | | Threshold risk | 100-200 |
|
Abbreviations: AP, anteroposterior; IVP, intravenous pyelogram; KUB, kidneys, ureter, bladder; lat, lateral; PA, posteroanterior.
a1 rad = 10 mGy; 1 mGy = 0.001 Gy.bData from Sadro CT, Dubinsky TJ. CT in pregnancy: risks and benefits. Appl Radiol. 2013;42(10):6-16.