Not All CT Scans Are 100 Percent Necessary, Study Finds

Posted by petctlascolinas on December 15th, 2015

CT scans are valuable tools for helping doctors see inside the body to diagnose a host of conditions. Not every scan performed, however, is 100 percent medically necessary. This particular issue is one that researchers from Yale University took up recently in a study aimed at reducing the number of unwarranted scans while also helping keep costs down for patients and their insurance companies.

It is estimated that about a third of all CT scans performed on patients with minor head injuries are not medically necessary. Doctors who are young and inexperienced or those who do not have the confidence of their patients or their family members will sometimes order the tests when they are not needed, researchers found. In the case of concussions, for example, CT scans are not useful for diagnosis. While they are valuable for helping determine if risks such as bleeding are present, these tests are sometimes ordered when concussion symptoms are very mild.

To address CT overuse, researchers are finding that health care providers play a pivotal role. The doctor-patient relationship, they say, is critical for helping avoid overuse. When doctors take the time to carefully listen to patients and patients see a high level of care, they are likely to both remain on the same page. This, in turn, is likely to promote a greater degree of trust when a doctor recommends for or against undergoing the CT procedure.

CT scans are routinely used to help detect and diagnose a host of conditions. While they are highly valuable when indicated, overuse simply puts a strain on medical resources and financing. In addition, this test although noninvasive isn’t always something patients want to endure unless they truly have to.

Patients and doctors who wish to help reduce the prevalence of CT scan overuse are urged to discuss this procedure carefully before performing it. Sometimes the CT is the best tool for diagnostic procedures, but in some cases it’s simply not necessary. Such is the case with many performed on those with minor head injuries.

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PET / CT of Las Colinas was developed with both patients and physicians in mind and our services have been used for various types of disease; primarily in detecting, staging and monitoring cancer, but also in heart disease and brain disorders.