Lumbar spine series (pediatric)
Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data
At the time the article was created Jessica Hui Shi Ng had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Jessica Hui Shi Ng's current disclosuresAt the time the article was last revised Jessica Hui Shi Ng had no financial relationships to ineligible companies to disclose.
View Jessica Hui Shi Ng's current disclosures- Pediatric lumbar spine radiograph
- Pediatric L-spine x-ray
- Lumbar spine x-ray child
- Lumbar spine x-ray paediatric
The lumbar spine series for pediatrics consists of an anteroposterior and a lateral projection.
On this page:
Indications
trauma with a suspected fracture
atypical lumbar spine and lower back pain
Projections
Gonadal shielding
The use of gonadal and fetal shielding has been deemed non-beneficial to patients' health in evidence 1-3 and may or may not be useful for pediatric extremity imaging. Placing gonadal shielding can increase the examination time and may cause the child more stress.
Practical points
The major difficulty in pediatric lumbar spine radiography relates to:
To overcome this, a variety of techniques can be used 4:
distract the patient with toys, games and/or conversation
using the swaddling technique; wrap the child in a blanket to promote comfort and sleep
Immobilization techniques
Children will find it difficult to keep still, therefore it is helpful to have the parent in the child's direct line of sight to keep the child calm.
References
- 1. Marsh R & Silosky M. Patient Shielding in Diagnostic Imaging: Discontinuing a Legacy Practice. AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2019;212(4):755-7. doi:10.2214/AJR.18.20508 - Pubmed
- 2. British Institute of Radiology (BIR). Guidance on using shielding on patients for diagnostic radiology applications. 2020. Available from: The British Institute of Radiology - PDF
- 3. American Association of Physicists in Medicine. AAPM position statement on the use of patient gonadal and fetal shielding. (2019) Available from: American Association of Physicists in Medicine - PDF
- 4. Ng J & Doyle E. Keeping Children Still in Medical Imaging Examinations- Immobilisation or Restraint: A Literature Review. Journal of Medical Imaging and Radiation Sciences. 2019;50(1):179-87. doi:10.1016/j.jmir.2018.09.008 - Pubmed
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