The duration of fluorography as a mandatory type of examination

Timely diagnosis of tuberculosis and other lung diseases significantly increases the chances of successful treatment and recovery. One of the most accessible preventive studies is fluorography, which requires a minimum of time and preparation. In addition, the duration of the fluorography is 1 year. Therefore, it is often not necessary to do it.

Why do you need fluorography?

Fluorography is a type of X-ray study, which is widely used to diagnose lung and cardiovascular pathologies. It is affordable and does not require a lot of time. There are even portable devices that are located inside a specially equipped cabin of the lorry, which allows it to be carried out on the road. This type of research is characterized by mobility, which is valuable for the prophylactic examination of the population in remote villages and small towns.

The duration of fluorography allows it to be performed no more often than once a year, so a person is rarely exposed to ionizing radiation. The picture gives an opportunity to suspect the development of tuberculosis, neoplastic diseases and sclerotic changes in blood vessels. Fluorography displays some cardiac pathologies (for example, an increase in its size), so that the patient can turn to the cardiologist in a timely manner for more detailed diagnosis and treatment.

What is the difference between this procedure and X-rays?

A picture of the lungs with fluorography is much less than an X-ray. But for preventive purposes it is enough (for example, to detect tuberculosis). In addition, it is performed free of charge in public medical institutions, and for X-rays, it is necessary to buy expensive film. Obvious deviations from the norm will still be visible, and the patient will then be recommended an additional examination.

The minus of standard fluorography is that the dose of radiation during the procedure is 0.3 mSv, while at x-ray this figure is 0.1 mSv. Therefore, it is undesirable to do it more often than once a year (although modern research involves the use of digital devices that reduce the dose of ionization). Observing the recommended duration of fluorography, you can protect the body from the harmful effects of the procedure. The radiation load received at it, corresponds to a dose of radiation which the person receives monthly from natural sources.

Term of the survey

The duration of the fluorography, made for preventive purposes by a healthy person, is 1 year. A certificate of this research may be requested by:

• When enrolling in an institution of higher learning (in some educational institutions with expired results, fluorography is not allowed even for a session, since they do not want to risk the health of students);
• At employment (especially it concerns physicians, teachers, educators and workers of food sphere);
• Before surgery;
• During the conscription.

The duration of the fluorography for the maternity hospital is also important, especially for the members of the pregnant family who will visit it after the birth of the baby or attend childbirth. Also, a person will not be able to visit any public swimming pool and many sports complexes until he presents a certificate of completion of this research.

Fluorography in pregnancy: what you need to know?

The duration of fluorography (in the maternity hospital will require a certificate of its passage from each member of the family) is important not so much for a woman in labor, as for her husband, if he is present at partner births. The period of validity of the results does not change from this - it is 1 year. The last results of the fluorography of a pregnant woman are also recorded in the exchange card, but even if it is overdue, no one will ask for it and even more to make the picture rework (as this can be dangerous for the fetus).

The duration of the fluorography for the relatives of the pregnant woman is very important if they plan to visit her after childbirth. Taking into account the fact that the joint stay of mother and child is increasingly practiced, the chance of a risky contact of a newborn with pathogenic microorganisms is increasing. They can be brought to a medical institution by the visitors of women in childbirth, so it is desirable for sick and unexplored people to avoid such places.

Preparation for research

The procedure does not require special preparation. The patient undresses to the waist and passes into the booth of fluorography. There he needs to lean very tight against the screen of the device and rest his chin in a special recess (a doctor or a laboratory assistant will tell you how to do it correctly). Then the person needs to inhale and hold his breath for a few moments (at this time a picture will be taken).

The result of a fluorography with a description in a normal polyclinic is ready, as a rule, the next day. But if the research was conducted not in the planned, but in an emergency order, the picture with the conclusion can be given out in hands after 20-30 minutes after the examination.

Can a person be forced to undergo a fluorography?

Most medical procedures and manipulations are carried out by agreement of the patient. He has the right to refuse certain diagnostic studies or therapeutic effects, but before doing so, he needs to understand the possible consequences. The validity of fluorography by law is 1 year.

This study also does not take place before 365 calendar days from the last X-ray or computed tomography of the lungs, as they display a complete picture of the state of the respiratory system. You can not get the procedure earlier, as this can cause harm to health.

Refuse from the planned annual fluorography is not worth it. As in the post-Soviet countries the unfavorable epidemiological situation of tuberculosis, it is better not to neglect preventive measures. Knowing what the duration of fluorography is considered optimal, you can significantly reduce the risk of adverse effects to the body.

Contraindications to the study

Fluorography is not performed for children under 15 years of age, if necessary, they are assigned an X-ray (in connection with a lower radiation load). Contraindicated fluorography also under such conditions:

• Pregnancy and breastfeeding;
• Diseases with severe course, in which the patient can not stand or lie during the examination.

The annual passage of fluorography is a good way to diagnose many diseases of the respiratory system and heart (tuberculosis, oncological processes, aortic sclerosis). Given the ratio of harm from exposure and information, this procedure is desirable to be held annually. If you do not reduce the recommended intervals between diagnostic studies, the risk of unwanted effects on the body is minimal, and the benefits are high. With timely diagnosed diseases the patient's chances of successful treatment and full recovery increase several times.