8 Reasons you might need a CT Scan right away
When people get injured or become ill, they see a doctor to check what is wrong and to get adequate treatment. While healthcare experts may be able to understand your symptoms and know what is going on in your body, they will often need the help of diagnostic imaging to get a clearer understanding of what is wrong.
Diagnostic imaging, also known as medical imaging, is a method of viewing the interior of the human body to help healthcare practitioners figure out the type of injury or illness and confirm the disease/condition diagnosis.
Computed tomography (CT) scan is one of the imaging techniques that doctors recommend to patients when a detailed view of a specific body part is required. The technique uses x-ray beams and computers to produce cross-sectional scans of the body. These images take the information from multiple x-ray beams and integrate the data to produce highly detailed images of structures inside your body.
CT scans can show blood vessels, soft tissues, and bones of different body parts. There can be various reasons your doctor might ask you for a CT scan, including the following.
1- Examining Tumours
CT scans can show the tumor’s size, shape, and location. If you have tumor symptoms, CT procedures are often the first step to diagnosing the tumor. The scans can even reveal the blood vessels nourishing the tumor without invasive procedures. The more knowledge the doctor has about the tumor’s size, shape, and location, the more effectively they can perform medical procedures like biopsies.
Surgeons may often employ CT imaging to assist them in taking off the small piece of tissue. This procedure is known as a CT-guided biopsy. CT imaging can also be used for certain cancer treatment types like radiofrequency ablation (RFA), which utilizes heat to eradicate tumors.
2- Checking for Bone and Joint Problems
One of the reasons your doctor might ask you to go for a CT scan is to check for joint or bone damage if an x-ray or imaging modality cannot find the issue. CT scan can give more detailed information about bone structure and tissue, helping detect bone-related issues that could be causing you pain. These problems can include fractures, lesions, soft tissue damage, or other abnormalities.
3- Examining your Blood Vessels
CT scans can provide sufficient details for doctors or surgeons to observe blood vessels and check for potential problems, including blockages. The produced CT images can help the doctor get all the necessary information to make a correct diagnosis of vascular disease without having to go for any invasive surgical procedures.
A CT scan is often combined with an injection of a specific dye to create images of blood vessels and tissues, a procedure called CT angiography. Your doctor may recommend this test if you have a medical condition that involves the blood vessels of your heart, brain, kidneys, lungs, or other body parts. Some reasons include
- To identify damaged blood vessels (due to injury)
- To locate narrow blood vessels (due to atherosclerosis)
- To find the formation of abnormal blood vessels inside your brain
- To locate blood clots formed in the veins of your legs
Healthcare practitioners may use the data from CT angiography to know more about your problem and decide the best way to treat you.
4- Because Your Injury Includes Soft Tissue Damage
Unlike other traditional medical imaging techniques like x-rays, CT scans can yield clear pictures of the soft tissue around bones in your body while also providing bone images. If your soft tissue is damaged, your doctor might recommend CT imaging to diagnose the condition accurately and provide a better recovery plan.
5- Diagnosing Abdominal Problems
Your abdomen consists of gastrointestinal, endocrine, urinary, and reproductive systems. An abdominal CT scan may be performed to examine the abdomen and its organs for injuries, tumors, lesions, and intra-abdominal bleeding. It may also be used for unexplained abdominal pain, infections, obstructions, or other problems, particularly when other medical examinations are inconclusive.
An abdominal CT scan may utilize barium as a dye to yield highly detailed organ images, including kidneys, liver, gallbladder, ovaries, spleen, and uterus. Adding intravenous iodine-based dye can further refine the pictures, helping doctors to diagnose various issues.
A physician might need a CT scan of your abdomen to examine abdominal pain, unexplained weight loss, kidney stones, intestinal inflammation, and possible obstructions in the intestines.
6- Because You Can’t Undergo Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Not all medical imaging techniques are similar, and sometimes certain factors limit the patient to undergo some types of imaging examination. MRI and CT imaging are somewhat the same; however, there are conditions where MRI is not appropriate such as the presence of metallic objects inside the body, including bullets, surgical clips, plates, pins, screws, or wire mesh.
MRI scans may take longer to complete. If you are suffering from an injury or a condition that hinders you from lying still for longer, the CT imaging technique can provide an accurate body image in a shorter period.
7- Investigating Spinal Problems and Chronic Pain
Spinal injury or chronic back pain p are common reasons to get a CT scan.
A CT scan of the spinal cord may be performed to examine the spine for tumors, herniated disks, lesions, structural anomalies like spina bifida, blood vessel malformations, or other problems. A medical expert may also ask to go for CT imaging to:
- Investigate spinal fractures
- Examine the spine before and after surgeries
- Diagnose the cause of spinal pain
- Measure bone density to figure out the likelihood of spinal fractures in those individuals with relatively high osteoporosis risk
CT scans are also beneficial in combination with MRI for people who experience narrowing of the spinal cord, arthritis, and infections.
8- Examining Brain and Head Injuries or Diseases
Head injuries are a common reason for heading to the emergency department. The doctor or a physician needs to check for injuries or possible concussions. For this, they may order a CT scan examination of your brain to ensure you do not have a brain injury or a fractured skull.
CT imaging helps doctors to evaluate bleeding or swelling in the brain, stroke, brain tumors, chronic headaches, and persistent dizziness. Although less frequent, a head CT scan can also help examine the bone and soft tissue damage after facial trauma, assess aneurysm, diagnose problems with the temporal bone inside the skull, and find inflammation in the sinuses.
Conclusion
A computed tomography (CT) scan is a non-invasive imaging technique that uses x-rays and computer technology to create two-dimensional images of a particular section of the internal body. The scan provides detailed representations of different body parts, including muscles, bones, organs, and fat. Your doctor might ask you for a CT scan for many reasons, many of which are listed above. If you experience any of the injuries, aches, or problems mentioned above, it would be best to ask your doctor if you need a CT scan immediately.
