Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides)

This study X-rays the ribs on both sides from several angles and adds a standard front-to-back chest film alongside them. The rib views look for breaks; the chest film checks what is underneath — the lungs and the space around them — because that is usually the part that matters after a chest injury. It takes about fifteen minutes.

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What it is

Ribs curve, so on any single X-ray most of them are seen edge-on or foreshortened and a crack can hide in the overlap. A bilateral rib series gets around that with angled exposures on both sides, each rotating the patient so a different arc of rib lies flat to the beam. The chest film included with it is the ordinary standing front view, and it is there for a different reason: a broken rib by itself is usually left to heal, but a rib injury can be accompanied by air or blood collecting around a lung, or a bruised lung underneath, and those are what change management. The radiologist reads the two parts together.

Why it is done

To look for rib fractures after a fall, a car crash, a blow to the chest or a hard bout of coughing
To check the lungs and the space around them at the same time, since that is where the consequential injuries usually are
To look at rib bone itself when pain is not obviously from an injury and a lesion is suspected
To compare both sides when it is not clear which one the pain is actually coming from

What to expect

You undress from the waist up and remove necklaces and anything metal. Most of the views are taken standing against an upright plate. For the chest view you place your hands on your hips or raise your arms, take a deep breath and hold it. For the rib views the technologist rotates you part way to one side and then the other. Deep breaths and turning can genuinely hurt when a rib is broken, and pain relief before the study is worth asking about if you are struggling. The plate feels cold. The whole series is normally done in about fifteen minutes.

Questions worth asking

Is the chest view included in this code's price, or billed as a separate chest X-ray?
Is this being ordered as bilateral when only one side hurts? The one-sided study is a different, cheaper code.
If the result is a rib fracture that will simply be allowed to heal, is a follow-up X-ray planned, and is it necessary?
If this follows a car accident, should the bill be routed through auto insurance rather than health insurance first?

What Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) costs by state

Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Texas — 107 hospitals, median $550.49
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in California — 90 hospitals, median $592.80
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Florida — 72 hospitals, median $1,403.25
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Ohio — 68 hospitals, median $477.10
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Illinois — 51 hospitals, median $610.00
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Virginia — 43 hospitals, median $696.60
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Tennessee — 38 hospitals, median $123.20
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Pennsylvania — 32 hospitals, median $501.60
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Washington — 32 hospitals, median $397.28
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Wisconsin — 32 hospitals, median $482.50
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Iowa — 28 hospitals, median $481.00
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Michigan — 27 hospitals, median $497.00
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Indiana — 26 hospitals, median $309.60
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Georgia — 25 hospitals, median $513.89
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Arizona — 23 hospitals, median $143.22
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Kentucky — 22 hospitals, median $678.60
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in New Jersey — 22 hospitals, median $156.35
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in New York — 22 hospitals, median $125.84
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Missouri — 21 hospitals, median $471.90
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Minnesota — 19 hospitals, median $171.81
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Oklahoma — 18 hospitals, median $386.65
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Colorado — 17 hospitals, median $1,890.75
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in West Virginia — 17 hospitals, median $290.50
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in North Carolina — 15 hospitals, median $510.30
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Nebraska — 13 hospitals, median $366.50
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Oregon — 13 hospitals, median $339.00
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Arkansas — 11 hospitals, median $335.40
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Kansas — 11 hospitals, median $1,548.07
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Mississippi — 11 hospitals, median $148.05
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in South Carolina — 11 hospitals, median $534.50
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Maine — 7 hospitals, median $781.50
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in South Dakota — 7 hospitals, median $653.60
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Alaska — 5 hospitals, median $328.44
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Nevada — 4 hospitals, median $470.68
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in North Dakota — 4 hospitals, median $549.60
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Wyoming — 4 hospitals, median $394.94
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Hawaii — 2 hospitals, median $217.28
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Louisiana — 2 hospitals, median $349.18
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Maryland — 2 hospitals, median $160.80
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in Montana — 2 hospitals, median $356.80
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in New Mexico — 2 hospitals, median $530.88
Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost in New Hampshire — 1 hospitals, median $924.40

Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) prices at hospitals

See every published price for Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides): the full national range, the state and hospital breakdowns, and which hospitals charge the least.

Rib and Chest X-ray (4 or more views, both sides) cost — see all prices →

Sources

RadiologyInfo (RSNA/ACR): X-ray (Radiography) - Chest (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)
MedlinePlus: Chest x-ray (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)

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