Children are more sensitive than adults to the potential carcinogenic effects of ionising radiation, due to the radiosensitivity of their developing organs and tissues together with the longer life expectancy, meaning more time to develop radiation-induced malignancies.The purpose of our study was to map which body areas were scanned and to evaluate radiation doses with relation to the injury mechanism, in paediatric trauma patients undergoing CT between January 1st, 2019, and December 31st, 2022.

All children (age <18 years) admitted to our major trauma center (tertiary referral center), were identified retrospectively. Patients transferred to our center from smaller centers were excluded from this analysis. The primary variables were age, injury mechanism, body areas scanned and radiation doses. The follow-up period was one month from date of arrival at our trauma center. We defined having an injury in a body area as an Abbreviated Injury Score (AIS) severity ≥2. The score can be between 1 and 6, where 6 is...

A total of 544 patients were included in the full cohort, of which 429 (79%) were primary admissions to our trauma center and included in this analysis. The median age was 11 years (IQR: 3-15), and 35% were girls. The three most common injury mechanisms were motor vehicle accident(34%), fall from height (33%) and struck/hit by blunt object (12%) (fig. 1).[Fig 1]50 patients (12%) did not undergo CT. Among all 429 patients, full body trauma CT was performed in 258 patients (60%), CT of the...

Full body trauma CT exposes the patient to high levels of ionising radiation meaning that scanning must be appropriate and justified. Using the ALARA principle image quality should not be compromised - specific, optimised CT protocols on the scanner for different age groups should be available. Software in the scanners may help reducing radiation to sensitive tissue as the breast and should be activated. CT of specific body areas at risk instead of full body CT reduces radiation and should be prioritised: flow charts indicating...

European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy, European guidelines on diagnostic reference levels for paediatric imaging, Publications Office, 2018, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2833/486256

S. Gentile: Nothing to disclose L. Borgwardt: Nothing to disclose L. H. Andersen: Nothing to disclose O. Rosenkrantz: Nothing to disclose S. S. Rudolph: Nothing to disclose C. Ewertsen: Nothing to disclose