Xray Safety and Your Child

Have you ever wondered why your provider didn’t order an x-ray? Like many medical tests, there are benefits and risks to imaging studies.
Medical imaging is useful for diagnosing many medical problems and can help determine the treatment
for some patients. Certain forms of imaging such as X-rays and CT scans contain ionizing radiation.
Ionizing radiation can damage the DNA in our cells, which may increase the risk of developing cancer.
The harmful effects from radiation are seen with large doses and lots of doses given in a short amount
of time. Children are more sensitive to radiation and have a longer life expectancy, so it’s especially
important to reduce their radiation exposure.
While medical imaging may sound dangerous, it’s important to consider that we are all exposed to low
levels of radiation every day. This “background radiation” comes from rocks, soil, building materials, and
space. Some forms of medical imaging use higher amounts of radiation than others. For example, a
single chest x-ray is comparable to 1 day of background radiation, while a CT scan of the abdomen is
equivalent to 20 months of background radiation.
Healthcare providers are aware of these risks, which is why they try to order imaging only when
medically necessary. It is recommended to use the lowest amount of radiation possible that still
provides a good quality image. Techniques are used to lower radiation doses for pediatric patients.
Additionally, radiation is focused only on the area of the body that needs imaged rather than the entire
body.
What you can do to reduce radiation risk for your child:
- Keep a record of your child’s imaging studies and share them with your healthcare team. This can help reduce the need to repeat imaging if you need to switch providers.
- Ask your healthcare provider or imaging facility if the radiation dose is lowered for pediatric patients.
- Ask your provider if it is possible to use imaging methods that do not require radiation, such as MRI and ultrasound.
More information:
Sally Heil MS3 University of Missouri School of Medicine Springfield Campus







