Innovation District: Eliminating Unnecessary Radiation Exposure from Spinal Radiography

Eliminating unnecessary radiation exposure from spinal radiography If a child arrives at the pediatric orthopaedic specialist for an idiopathic scoliosis evaluation without an adequate radiographic image of his or her spine, it’s often necessary to order yet another imaging study for accurate assessment. A study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons found that in a 6 month period, almost half (43 percent) of patients referred for evaluation required a repeat radiograph due to missing or poor quality existing images. “Repeating the radiograph means these kids received another exposure to radiation, too,” says Matthew Oetgen, M.D., the study’s lead author.

Spinal-halo-gravity traction times three Because spinal-halo-gravity traction is often challenging for patients, the orthopaedic surgery team at Children's National tries to coordinate cases so that when possible, patients can support each other throughout the process. Recently, for the first time ever, the team had three traction patients on similar trajectories on the unit at the same time. Understanding Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease is so rare that it can sometimes be challenging for clinicians to know how best to care for affected patients. Benjamin Martin, M.D., and colleagues review common imaging modalities used in diagnosis and treatment of Perthes disease in the Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

Upcoming Events Pediatric Academic Societies Meeting April 24-May 1, 2019 Baltimore, Maryland Pediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America Annual Meeting May 15-18, 2019 Charlotte, North Carolina Copyright © 2019, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Children's National 111 Michigan Ave NW Washington, District of Columbia 20010