Are there adverse side effects from iodinated contrast material or x-ray dye?
Yes, but they are rare. Millions of intravascular X-ray dye injections for medical imaging examinations are given safely each year in North America. RMG currently uses the safest possible x-ray dye (called non-ionic contrast), but adverse reactions may occur. Mild reactions such as nausea, vomiting and skin hives occur in 1% to 3% of patients. Severe adverse reactions are very rare, occurring in 1 of 6250 examinations using nonionic contrast material. Fatal reactions may occur in 1 of 100,000 patients. Q: Is there risk to MRI contrast (Gadolinium)? A: Gadolinium MRI contrast media has been approved for use since the late 1980s and has been extremely well tolerated by the patients all over the world. Severe anaphylactoid reactions to this agent are extremely rare and occur with a much lower frequency than is observed with iodinated contrast material. Q: What is the risk of oral and other gastrointestinal contrast agents? A: The oral contrast agents administered at RMG for CT scans of th
