Whatever happened to ordinary chest X-rays?

Old fashioned x-rays are good for bone fractures and spotting pneumonia but inadequate for most other imaging. Their use was so prevalent because several decades they were the only kind of internal imaging physicians had available. Physicians have better tools now. As medical knowledge and technology develop new and better techniques old ones fall by the wayside. It has less to do with money (x-rays aren’t exactly cheap ether) and more to do with being better able to diagnose and treat the patient.

There’s the added problem of the radiation load delivered with x-rays. This factor becomes ever more significant with repeated dosages.

I still get one every year as part of my physical

@ARE_you_kidding_me I’m in no position to know of improvements in x-ray technology. But unless there is some compelling condition requiring a yearly x-ray, I would question the need for repeatedly rolling the dice against with destructive cell altering high energy radiation.

@ARE_you_kidding_me
The only time I got repeated chest X-rays was after my chemo therapy, checking for “thingies” in my chest.

I’ve had over 300 X-rays from head to toe and teeth. 30 broken bones over 37 years. With chest X-rays I have to put on the lead coat over my privates. I had a CT scan on Halloween.

They still do them. They prefer CT’s because they cost more and show more. Any excuse they can come up with for a CT over an X-ray they’ll do it to make more money and CYA. Forget that it delivers a shitload of radiation. CT’s are basically multiple X-rays. Head CT about 8 months of background radiation in a minute. Pelvic and abdominal CT about 5 years each of background radiation delivered in a minute.

The only possible excuse for a yearly chest X-ray is if you are positive for exposure for TB. Otherwise it is a total farce in my opinion to take your money and give you a dose of radiation you don’t need. Especially if you are a woman that is just horrible. I had a friend whose doctor used to take a chest X-ray every year. That is not any standard of care I know. Most doctors do not do it.

I may ask him if it’s really needed but I’m not really that afraid of a couple of x-rays. I’m a former smoker so it’s actually not a bad idea. I’m more concerned with being prescribed bullshit medication that is not actually needed. My doc and I are in agreement about that.

Are you coughing? Having chest pain?

Regarding annual chest X-rays.

http://www.nih.gov/researchmatters/november2011/11072011lung.htm

http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/re-thinking-the-annual-physical/

I order chest x-rays all the time.
No need for routine annual chest x-rays.

CT scans and chest x-rays answer different questions and there are different indications for each. I’ve never ordered, nor had any use for, a chest MRI although I assume there are are some specialized indications.

X-rays haven’t gone anywhere – they’re just not glamorous. I do at least 15 chest x-rays each day at work. They’re fantastic for a huge number of indications.

If a doctor orders a chest CT without having done a chest x-ray first, it’s probably best to ask him/her why that is (there may be some good reasons, but not many). A CT scan gives far more information, at the cost of delivering far more radiation.

And no, x-rays aren’t just for bones.

In fact sometimes an x-ray is a better test than a CT scan, and not just for radiation safety reasons. A normal x-ray has a far higher spatial resolution than a CT scan (5MP vs. 0.25MP), so some small changes will be seen on x-ray and not CT.

The level of sophistication increased.

Understandably the cost did as well.

They haven’t gone anywhere. I just had a couple of X-Rays about year ago when I ended up with pneumonia.

They used one initially to diagnose it and then my Doc sent me for another after I’d finished the course of antibiotics to check that it was all cleared up.

They are often used when a patient complains of shortness of breath. My doctor sent me for an x-ray before I had my CT and PET scans. A chest x-ray is also done immediately after a lung needle biopsy to check for a collapsed lung. I’ve had about five x-rays and five CT scans of the chest in the past two years.

I’m pretty sure a chest x-ray is standard before any surgical procedure in the abdomen.

@gorillapaws Why? I don’t think that’s true. It depends what the surgery is for. It doesn’t make sense to me to X-ray every patient before surgery, but I’m not a doctor.

@JLeslie It may be to rule out certain risks. It may not be EVERY procedure, but I think it’s pretty standard. I’m not 100% certain though.

http://aafp.org/afp/2013/0315/p414.html

@JLeslie No, and according to my doc I’m as healthy as a horse. Based on the above responses I’ll question the yearly x-ray on the next go around.