Dear Pediatric Imaging Insider,
Summer, with rambunctious kids out of school and having fun -- and, regrettably, having accidents -- makes for busy times in emergency departments. CT can be an indispensable diagnostic tool to facilitate treating a seriously injured child admitted to a hospital's emergency department or trauma unit. But is the technology being used when imaging modalities with less radiation dose could provide the same diagnostic information?
As the number of CT exams ordered for children by emergency physicians continues to escalate, concerned professionals are evaluating diagnostic imaging alternatives. An analysis of CT scans ordered at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis for kids who sustained blunt chest trauma may surprise you. Learn more by clicking here, and do a child a favor by sharing this article with the emergency and trauma teams at your hospital.
On a related note, read and share an article about the value of ordering CT scans for children admitted to the emergency department with headaches. Do you share the same opinion as the radiologists and emergency physicians from Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC?
Radiologists are also speaking out about the carnage that all-terrain vehicles cause to children from infancy to the teen years. This probably isn't news to you, but you may want to send this article to every pediatrician and school teacher you know, as well as any other professionals who interact with parents and outdoor-active children.
Is AuntMinnie.com asking you to be proactive? Yes! Radiologists aren't on the radar screens of most parents as medical professionals who can help keep their children healthy. Yet the role you play as diagnosticians and gatekeepers of radiation dose exposure is vital.
As the Pediatric Imaging Digital Community nears its first anniversary as an AuntMinnie.com community, please let us know what article subjects you'd like to see covered and if there are any subjects we've missed. We're open to suggestions, and some of the articles published have been the result of reader recommendations. All it takes is an e-mail!
