Benefits and Risks - Carotid Ultrasound

Benefits

• Carotid ultrasound is noninvasive and painless.
• Ultrasound is widely available, easy-to-use and less expensive than other imaging methods.
• Carotid ultrasound exams are extremely safe and do not use any ionizing radiation.
• Ultrasound scanning gives a clear picture of soft tissues that do not show up well on x-ray images.
• If a carotid ultrasound exam shows narrowing of one or both carotid arteries, treatment can be taken to restore the free flow of blood to the brain. Many strokes are prevented as a result.

Risks

• For standard diagnostic ultrasound, there are no known harmful effects on humans.
• In nearly 50 years of experience, carotid ultrasound has proved to be a risk-free procedure.