How much radiation exposure is there in Urology?

[Doc mu]

My family from both sides first and second degree have a very troubling cocktail of cancer so I think this would reasonably sway my decision.

Is it more or less compared to other specialties?

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[cpants]

Radiation exposure is high for many/most urologists. We use a lot of fluoroscopy for endoscopic surgery. I would guess we are the highest amongst surgeons aside from ortho and maybe vascular. The risk of cancers is low with proper technique and safety equipment.

 

[Doc mu]

I do FPMRS research, and they use a lot of fluoro in the OR to guide placement of neurostimulators and other implants like that. I can't speak to other fellowship areas, but I would assume many of the cancer and stone cases would also use fluoro. Not sure in comparison to other specialties, but hope this helps a bit.

Edit: Found this thread with some information Rank Specialties by Level of Radiation Exposure

It does, thanks a lot!

 

[Doc mu]

Radiation exposure is high for many/most urologists. We use a lot of fluoroscopy for endoscopic surgery. I would guess we are the highest amongst surgeons aside from ortho and maybe vascular. The risk of cancers is low with proper technique and safety equipment.

The numbers for ortho are pretty scary 3-5x higher cancer rates than the general population, 10-12x in spine surgery, what surgical specialties do you think are good for those that want to avoid radiation?

 

[cpants]

I think vast majority of specialties have little to no radiation exposure.

High exposure:
Radiology
Ortho
Vascular
Interventional cards/neuro
Urology
GI if you do a lot of ERCP

Low to no exposure:
Everything else

 

[medicineiscool456]

High, but there are medical devices out there that you can use to protect yourself. They aren't mainstream yet, probably because old school docs dont care, but they will be in the coming years.

 

[StIGMA]

High, but there are medical devices out there that you can use to protect yourself. They aren't mainstream yet, probably because old school docs dont care, but they will be in the coming years.

It's called an egg basket. Made of this rare material called lead

 

[DoctwoB]

The numbers for ortho are pretty scary 3-5x higher cancer rates than the general population, 10-12x in spine surgery, what surgical specialties do you think are good for those that want to avoid radiation?

Would double check your data. 42% of men and 40% of women will get a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime. 10-12x that means every spine surgeon gets 4 different cancers.