ArticleDose-response : a publication of International Hormesis Society
The Scoliosis Quandary: Are Radiation Exposures From Repeated X-Rays Harmful?
Article in Dose-response : a publication of International Hormesis Society. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Long-term cancer risk in historic cohorts of patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis: a systematic review.Spine deformity · 2026Pooled it
- Exploring radiation-free scoliosis monitoring: systematic review and meta-analysis of non-ionizing methods.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Pooled it
- 3D topographic acquisitions to predict spinal curvature in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis : a prospective validation study.Bone & joint open · 2026Article
- Patient education strategies in pediatric orthopaedics: using ChatGPT to answer frequently asked questions on scoliosis.Spine deformity · 2025Article
- Systematic Review of Clinical Outcome Parameters of Conservative Treatment of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Patients.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Review
- Understanding the Causes of Keel Bone Damage and Its Effects on the Welfare of Laying Hens.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Review
- A Whole-Spine Radiography Study to Reduce Patient Exposure Dose and Artifacts Using the EOS Imaging System.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Low Radiation Protocol for Intraoperative Robotic C-Arm Can Enhance Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis Deformity Correction Accuracy and Safety.Global spine journal · 2024Article
- As fast as an X-ray: real-time magnetic resonance imaging for diagnosis of idiopathic scoliosis in children and adolescents.Pediatric radiology · 2024Article
- A Neural Network Approach for Inertial Measurement Unit-Based Estimation of Three-Dimensional Spinal Curvature.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Initial study on an expert system for spine diseases screening using inertial measurement unit.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Scoliosis Management through Apps and Software Tools.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Review
- Development and validation of a semi-automated measurement tool for calculating consistent and reliable surface metrics describing cosmesis in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Low-dose whole-spine imaging using slot-scan digital radiography: a phantom study.BMC medical imaging · 2023Article
- Scoliosis assessment tools to reduce follow-up X-rays.Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2023Article
- Retrospective Analysis of FED Method Treatment Results in 11-17-Year-Old Children with Idiopathic Scoliosis.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Reduction of lumbar hyperlordosis in a pediatric: a Chiropractic BiophysicsJournal of physical therapy science · 2022Article
- The reduction of high thoracic scoliosis in adults by mirror imageJournal of physical therapy science · 2022Article
- No Recommendation Is (at Least Presently) the Best Recommendation: An Updating Quality Appraisal of Recommendations on Screening for Scoliosis.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
- Analysis of Posture Parameters in Patients with Idiopathic Scoliosis with the Use of 3D Ultrasound Diagnostics-Preliminary Results.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
X-rays have been the gold standard for diagnosis, evaluation, and management of spinal scoliosis for decades as other assessment methods are indirect, too expensive, or not practical in practice. The average scoliosis patient will receive 10 to 25 spinal X-rays over several years equating to a maximum estimated dose of 10 to 25 mGy. Some patients, those getting diagnosed at a younger age and receiving early and ongoing treatments, may receive up to 40 to 50 X-rays, approaching at most 50 mGy. There are concerns that repeated radiographs given to patients are carcinogenic. Some studies have used the linear no-threshold model to derive cancer-risk estimates; however, it is invalid for low-dose irradiation (ie, X-rays); these estimates are untrue. Other studies have calculated cancer-risk ratios from long-term health data of historic scoliosis cohorts. Since data indicate reduced cancer rates in a cohort receiving a total radiation dose between 50 and 300 mGy, it is unlikely that scoliosis patients would get cancer from repeated X-rays. Moreover, since the threshold for leukemia is about 1100 mGy, scoliosis patients will not likely develop cancers from spinal X-rays. Scoliosis patients likely have long-term health consequences, including cancers, from the actual disease entity itself and not from protracted X-ray radiation exposures that are essential and indeed safe.
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