Extremity X-ray

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Test Overview

An extremity X-ray is a picture of your hand, wrist, arm, foot, ankle, knee, hip, or leg. It is done to see whether a bone has been fractured or a joint dislocated. It is also used to check for an injury or damage from conditions such as an infection, arthritis, bone growths (tumors), or other bone diseases, such as osteoporosis.

X-rays are a form of radiation, like light or radio waves, that are focused into a beam, much like a flashlight beam. X-rays can pass through most objects, including the human body. X-rays make a picture by striking a detector that either exposes a film or sends the picture to a computer. Dense tissues in the body, such as bones, block (absorb) many of the X-rays and look white on an X-ray picture. Less dense tissues, such as muscles and organs, block fewer of the X-rays (more of the X-rays pass through) and look like shades of gray on an X-ray. X-rays that pass only through air look black on the picture.

Last updated:	April 24, 2008
Author:	Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS
Reviewed By:	Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine, Paul D. Traughber, MD - Radiology
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Tracy Landauer