Computed tomography scanning in pediatric trauma: opportunities for performance improvement and radiation safety.

Background: Recently, pediatric CT scanning protocols have reduced radiation exposure in children. Because evaluation with CT scan after trauma contributes to significant radiation exposure, we reviewed the CT scans in children at both initial presentation at a non-pediatric facility and subsequent transfer to a level I pediatric trauma center (PTC) to determine the number of scans, body area scanned, radiation dosage, and proportion of scans at each facility.

Methods: The trauma database was retrospectively reviewed for children aged 0 to 17 y initially evaluated for trauma at another facility and then transferred to our PTC for pediatric specialty care between January 2000 and December 2010.