FDA Recommends Scaling Down X-rays for Children

The Food and Drug Administration has issued a new guidance suggesting there should be something of a kids’ menu for imaging, one that employs the lowest dose of radiation possible when imaging younger patients (or avoids x-rays altogether, if feasible). “Pediatric patients generally require less radiation than adults to obtain a quality image from an x-ray exam, so doctors must take extra care to ‘child size’ the radiation dose,” the FDA said in a statement. The guidance also urges providers in all settings to consider whether there is truly a need to order x-rays for a pediatric patient, and whether other modalities that would not expose patients to ionizing radiation would suffice.