Those skull x-rays do not significantly increase his risk for future cancer. And, as usual in situations like this, you need to ask yourself about the risk of not doing the study, of not getting the information — that’s important, too. For any test, ask the doctor if the risk of the test is outweighed by the benefits of getting the information the test will yield.

But don’t worry about those few films.

Here’s a good link with lots of information about background radiation.

http://www.physics.isu.edu/radinf/risk.htm

I know it’s difficult not to worry, but really the risk of driving your child in your car to the x-ray machine is much higher than is the risk of the x-ray itself. Yet we take the drive without worrying about it.

Thank you so much for your response. I agree that patients should always ask the why and the risk/benefit questions — that is why I am now, 3 years after my daughter’s x-ray — finding myself unable to sleep and wracked with fear and guilt. We did not ask those questions. The one-year x-ray seemed to be a standard protocol and unfortunately we put ourselves in the position of “doctor knows best” instead of asking and proceeding with the level of information and comfort that would have been best. It’s too bad not all doctors are as open and encouraging of these conversations as you are! But I take the ultimate responsibility which is weighing heavy on my heart.

I was wondering if a chest/abdomen x-ray is equivalent to maybe 10 days of background radiation, could you put the dose of a hip x-ray in similar terms? I may be doing nothing but making myself feel worse, but maybe some other parent will happen upon this and make a more informed choice than we did.

You’ve obviously thought about and researched this issue. There really are two issues here: the radiation dose of the hip x-rays as a future cancer risk, and the risk of the radiation to future fertility in your daughter. The first issue is easily dealt with — the effect on future cancer risk is not zero, but it is infinitesimally small. Regarding future fertility, as far as I know the answer is unknown. However, we do know a few things that are helpful in understanding the risk. The main reason we shield girls and women when we x-ray them is the concern that they may be in the early weeks of pregnancy at the time and not know it. The effects of radiation on the developing embryo are potentially substantial. In the case of an infant or toddler girl, her eggs are all in a dormant state. This does not mean that they are completely immune from all radiation harm, but it does mean that they are far more resistant to harm than is a developing embryo, and the radiation dose of plain x-rays like she received is quite modest. If she were my daughter, I really wouldn’t worry about it.

The larger question, as always, is weighing the risk of doing a test against the risk of not doing it. That’s the way a doctor should explain it, and that’s the way a parent should frame the question to the doctor: “what’s the risk of not doing it, of not getting the information?” A related question is: “can we get the information any other way besides an x-ray?” For example, could we get the information just by waiting a bit and seeing how things turn out, or would that be too risky. And, if it is too risky, why? Those are the sorts of conversations I have with the parents of my patients.

My daughter was diagnosed with a hip dysplasia at birth. She had hip ultrasounds, and then we did the Pavlick harness. The pediatric orthopedist monitored her progress and felt that the harness worked in correcting her hip. However, we had visits at 6 months old, and then at one year to make sure that the dysplasia was corrected.

At her one year visit a hip x-ray was taken to confirm that the hips were now fine. I protested a bit, but my husband was adamant that we should do the x-ray as recommended. At the time, I didn’t do any internet research, and so did not see the concern about the ovaries being radiated (which was not raised as a concern to us either).

Today I am feeling worried for my daughter, and very very guilty about the x-ray. (They did not put any shields over the ovaries). My sister-in-law had hip dysplasia that was discovered as a toddler — she had 2-3 x-rays, and she has not been able to get pregnant as an adult (ivf, treatments, nothing have worked for her. after a decade of trying). OF course I know that there is not necessarily a connection, but the thought is worrying me.

I was hoping you might be able to offer comfort, or a reasoned assessment of the risk, for myself and other parents of baby girls with hip dysplasia who had these x-rays at such young ages.

thank you so much.

I can’t really give you specific medical advice about what is best for your child on an internet blog — only your child’s doctor can do that. But I can tell you that the radiation dose of hip x-rays is very small. Ultrasound is helpful for hip clicks, but not so much for the rest of the leg.

A couple of things:

Many other parents have your question and we’ve talked about it quite a bit in the comment trail for the post. Here’s the bottom line. The radiation from a single chest x-ray is vanishingly small. It works out the same as getting the normal background radiation, that radiation coming from the earth and from outer space (cosmic rays) of living about 10 days of normal life at sea level. If you live at higher altitude, say on the Colorado Plateau like I do, a chest x-ray has the same radiation as 7 days or so of normal life. So really, don’t worry about the radiation of a chest x-ray.

I have no idea what that contraption for holding a child is. For a chest x-ray we generally just have the mother put on a shielding apron and help the x-ray technician hold the child’s arms up above the chest while the picture is taken. Getting a child to hold still for a second can be a challange, but generally tying them down just makes them fearful.