abdomen cat vs abdomen mri help

[mrnewyork]

hello,

i have a possible malabsorbtion problem and my doc wants to send me for a cat of abdomen and of pelvis with iv and oral contrast. I want to do it to see whats going on inside ,but i would prefer to do an mri because there is no radiation. Does anyone have some insight if:

1. an mri of the abdomen and pelvis is usually ordered or do they just do mri of specific organs. ie my doc would have to order mri of pancrease liver gall blader intestines ect

2. how long would an mri of the abdomen and pelvis take

3. how much radiation do you get from the abdomen cat , i heard 3 years worth of standing in the backyard all day

4. would the cat and mri of the abdomen show just as good images of the abdomenal organs and be able to find the same poss problems

5. if i did the cat without the iv idone contrast how effective would it be at finding problems.

6. do they do mri of the intestines.. i know they do them of the pancrease and liver and gallbladder..

7. can the cat of the pelvis make you sterile

8. anything else you would like to share about them

thanks so much!

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

I'm sorry, but the members of allnurses.com cannot address these concerns and/or answer your question as medical advice.

Please pose these to your PCP.

Good luck.