Skip to main content

Recommendations Issued for Advanced Imaging for Pediatric Patients in ED

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on June 28, 2024.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, June 27, 2024 -- In a policy statement issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics and published online June 27 in Pediatrics, recommendations are presented for optimizing advanced imaging use for pediatric patients in the emergency department.

Jennifer R. Marin, M.D., from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and colleagues provide guidelines for institutions and those who care for children to optimize the use of advanced imaging in the emergency department setting.

According to the authors, emergency departments that provide pediatric care should ensure appropriate imaging resources are available to meet the needs of children or have protocols and guidelines in place for transfer to a pediatric center. Primary care and emergency physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners should optimize advanced imaging by familiarizing themselves with pediatric imaging resources available at local emergency departments and use this information to decide where to refer patients; discuss and defer advanced imaging in children in whom the results of imaging will not alter management prior to and during transfer; use shared decision-making prior to ordering imaging, when appropriate; and use evidence-based guidelines and protocols to minimize potentially unnecessary imaging. The authors also address condition-specific imaging for multiple condition, including seizures, pediatric stroke, trauma, and child abuse.

"Many imaging studies are considered to be of low value, meaning the risks outweigh the benefits," Marin said in a statement. "More studies aren't necessarily better and it is important that clinicians consider factors, including the radiation exposure from computed tomography and false-positive and incidental findings that increase downstream testing."

Policy Statement

Technical Report

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

Risk for Death, MACE Increased for Patients With Adult-Onset Type 1 Diabetes

FRIDAY, May 16, 2025 -- Adult-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D) is associated with an increased risk for death and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), according to a study...

Audiologist-Fitted Hearing Aids Outperform Over-the-Counter Ones

FRIDAY, May 16, 2025 -- Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids (HAs), in which audiologists provide limited services, are effective, but do not achieve the same outcomes as HAs...

Medicaid Unwinding Linked to Disruption of Chronic Medication Therapy in Youth

FRIDAY, May 16, 2025 -- In young patients, especially young adults, Medicaid unwinding associated with the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted chronic medication therapy, according to a...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.