Radiographs (or x-rays) are one of the most commonly performed diagnostic tests in both human and veterinary medicine.
Although people commonly think of
performing x-rays for the diagnosis of broken bones, there are many
other conditions in veterinary medicine for which x-rays are used. For
example some pets have eaten such things as elastic bands, needle and
thread, cassette tape, razor blades, bones just to name a few inedible
objects. So x-rays enable us to get a better "picture" of what might be going on with your pet.
Sedation
It is often necessary to sedate your pet so that a more accurate and diagnostic x-ray can be acquired.
Sedation is used to allow your pet to relax and also to minimize any
discomfort that they may be experiencing from a painful area of their
body. Sedation is normally short acting and your informed consent will
always be needed prior to any sedation being administered.
Interpretation
Although x-rays are essentially a black and white picture, different
objects within the body project different shades of gray. At one extreme
are metal objects and bones which show up on x-ray as a distinct white
colour.
At the other extent of the spectrum is air which shows up as black.
Therefore the lungs should always be black (since they are filled with
air). In between white and black are the abdominal organs (kidney,
liver, stomach, intestines, bladder to name just a few), the heart and
the muscles.
How Many?
Finally, whenever we take an x-ray, we will almost always take a
minimum of two different views of the area in question. This is done
because we are imaging a three dimensional object (your pet) in only two
dimensions.
We generally take at least two views that are perpendicular (at
ninety degrees to one another) to each other. This allows us to make
certain that we are not missing something in one view that we cannot see
due to the patient's position in the other view.
Occasionally if we are looking for something less obvious we may need
to take more than 2 views and if a patient is being monitored with
multiple x-rays over a period of days, to months, we may only need to
take one view since we are comparing this to a previous x-ray.