What are the side effects of X-rays for children?

When you are sick, doctors sometimes ask you to take an X-ray to more accurately diagnose your condition. Both adults and children have had this experience. We know that chest X-ray is the most common type of X-ray. Especially when children have a severe cough, they will often have them take an X-ray to see if there is any inflammation. Although taking an X-ray is good, it also has certain disadvantages. So what are the side effects of taking X-rays for children?

【Phenomenon】

Children with cough need X-rays

Many parents think that their children only show symptoms of coughing, so why do they need blood tests and X-rays? In the view of some pediatricians, a chest X-ray examination is an essential part of diagnosing pneumonia.

However, there is still a big difference between a chest X-ray examination and what parents usually think of as a "chest X-ray".

"Our hospital rarely does chest X-rays now, instead we do chest radiographs, because chest X-rays are dynamic and require doctors to look at them dynamically, which may take two or three minutes, and the amount of radiation is relatively large." Li Yongli said that this method was no longer done a few years ago. Most hospitals now do chest X-rays, which are usually completed in one look and have a relatively small amount of radiation.

【Influence】

Limitations and impacts of X-rays

1. What are the restrictions on taking X-rays?

Some parents also want to know: if a child has a chest X-ray when he is only a few months old, will it have any impact?

Li Yongli said that there is no age limit for children to take X-rays. If a child is suspected of having pneumonia or foreign body inhalation, a chest X-ray is needed. As for the age at which the test can be done, it mainly depends on the needs of the disease.

2. Does taking X-rays have any effect on the body?

If a child has a chest X-ray, will the radiation have any effect on his body? Some parents said, I heard that you should not take X-rays more than three times a year. Is this true?

Another parent asked: "My baby didn't cooperate last time. I couldn't see clearly the first time I took the photo, so I took it again. I wonder if two consecutive photos will have any impact?"

Li Yongli said that it is necessary to let more parents know this. The maximum radiation dose of a chest X-ray is 0.4 mSv. "According to the standard, it doesn't matter if the radiation dose of three or one chest X-ray does not exceed 100 mSv."

Moreover, it doesn’t really matter if you take two consecutive shots, as the amount of radiation is small and the impact is not significant. "It would take hundreds of times of continuous exposure to reach 100mSv."

Li Yongli said that generally speaking, the amount of radiation is different because the parts irradiated each time are different. The amount of radiation for general clinical diagnosis is within a safe range and is very safe for children. Doctors will perform examinations based on needs and clinical diagnosis requirements. The examinations are generally very fast and the amount of radiation is very small.

【Exploration】

A safer alternative to X-rays

If radiation examinations are unavoidable, which ones are safer?

Li Yongli said that, relatively speaking, magnetic resonance imaging has no radiation exposure due to its different imaging principles and is currently the safest examination method. Under certain circumstances, it can replace X-ray examinations, but due to their respective characteristics, some examinations are irreplaceable.

For example, X-ray examination is a general examination, but if it is a chest examination, it is irreplaceable because only X-rays and chest CT scans can capture images containing gas, which cannot be replaced.

CT also uses radiation. Generally speaking, if pneumonia has been seen in the chest and you want to see more clearly and see the lesions in the lungs, CT is the first choice. It has a higher resolution and can see foreign objects and structures, etc. Relatively speaking, the amount of radiation is greater than that of X-ray examinations.

However, children are generally given low-dose CT imaging, which is within a very safe range. Currently, chest and lung examinations are still mainly based on X-rays and CT scans.