Shared Decision-Making: Is It Time to Obtain Informed Consent Before Radiologic Examinations Utilizing Ionizing Radiation? Legal and Ethical Implications

Informed Consent for Radiation Risk from CT Is Unjustified Based on the Current Scientific Evidence

“…Informed consent is the process by which a health care practitioner provides a patient with information about the risks, benefits, and alternatives for a given treatment, with requisite approval to proceed given this information (44). The current doctrine of informed consent requires that physicians provide patients with any relevant information that a reasonable patient would want to know to make a decision on whether to proceed with a medical procedure (45).…”

Consentimiento informado en radiología

“…En la actualidad, no existe consenso en la comunidad médica y radiológica respecto de obtener o no el consentimiento informado de los pacientes antes que se sometan a TC o examen similar 5,6 . En general, es aceptado que la exposición a altas dosis de radiación, como ha ocurrido en sobrevivientes de explosiones de bombas atómicas, accidentes de reactores nucleares y otras exposiciones, puede producir cáncer en humanos.…”

The incidental pulmonary nodule in a child

“…In addition to the potential radiation risk, the risk of percutaneous biopsy or thoracoscopic surgery (as well as that related to sedation or anesthesia) may be discussed, as appropriate, in case a decision is made to proceed to tissue sampling of the nodule (s) in question. The careful conduction of such a discussion and the documentation of the understanding of the risks and benefits of follow-up with CT satisfy the requirement of informed decision-making as advocated by the Image Gently campaign and other authorities [20][21][22][23]. Physicians who engage in such discussions with parents and other caregivers should be familiar with the principles of risk communication [24][25][26][27].…”