Hazards: For Children in E.R., a Big Increase in CT Scans

The number of computed tomography scans performed on children visiting hospital emergency rooms has increased fivefold in recent years, to 1.65 million in 2008 from 330,000 in 1995, a new study has found. The analysis, published online on Tuesday in the journal Radiology, found that CT scans were performed in almost 6 percent of all children’s emergency department visits in 2008, compared with about 1 percent in 1995. Scans were most commonly done on children arriving with head injuries, headaches or abdominal pain. http://nyti.ms/fAQh6e