What are some common uses of the procedure?

CT is used to help diagnose a wide range of conditions due to injury or illness.

In children, CT is typically used to diagnose causes of abdominal pain, evaluate for injury after trauma, diagnose and stage cancer, monitor response to treatment for cancer, and diagnose and monitor infectious or inflammatory disorders.

CT may also be performed to evaluate blood vessels throughout the body. With CT, it is possible to obtain very detailed pictures of the heart and blood vessels in children, even newborn infants.

Except for the chest x-ray, CT is the most commonly used imaging procedure for evaluating the chest. CT of the chest is used to evaluate:

• complications from infections such as pneumonia
• a tumor that arises in the lung or has spread there from a distant site
• airway disease such as inflammation of the bronchi (breathing passages)
• birth defects
• trauma to blood vessels or lung

CT is well-suited for visualizing diseases or injury of important organs in the abdomen including the liver, kidney and spleen. CT is sometimes used to:

• diagnose appendicitis
• detect abdominal tumors or birth defects

In the pelvic region, CT scans can help:

• detect cysts or tumors in the pelvis
• evaluate for stones in the urinary tract
• assess disease of the pelvic bones