3 view cervical spine X-rays of 2 year old

[Mom4801]

My 2 year old daughter received a cervical spine X-ray series due to an essentially whiplash injury when I almost dropped her on her head and yanked her back up. It caused her to have bad neck pain/refusing to move her neck to the side. Im having some regrets about taking her to the ER instead of waiting it out to see if she improved at home with pain relieving medicine. They had to take her odontoid view at least twice because they could not position her right and now I am extremely concerned about radiation exposure in particular to her thyroid. Could anyone advise on exactly how much radiation she would have received especially with the extra images they had to take? It was at a pediatric ER but was a shared imaging area with the adult patients in the hospital as well. I'm very concerned she received a large amount of radiation for what ended up being a minor injury.

I feel your fear, OP. My daughter has had to have several X-rays because of her scoliosis, as did I as a kid.
If it was paediatric A&E (ER), they will have used a machine with lower dose radiation specifically designed for children’s doses. If in doubt, ask the hospital.

I was told that my 14 year old daughter’s 3 in one day x-rays were the equivalent to spending 9 months living in a high radon area (background radiation). And I’m sure her doses were far higher than your tiny DD’s. The majority of people who live their entire lives in a high radon radon region never develop any health issues.

If it were risky, we just wouldn’t offer x-ray. Your DD won’t have another one for years. And there are loads of kids around the world having x-rays and getting on with their lives. Your DD will absolutely be fine! 100%! I hope she recovers from her whiplash soon. ❤️

Hi. Radiographer here. The odontoid view can be tricky, even on an adult and often takes more than one attempt. In the UK, or at least in the hospital I work at, we don't do odontoid views on children that young and to be honest it's incredibly rare that any child that age gets a cervical spine xray (I assume you're not in the UK).

That aside, the radiation dose is tiny, it's less than going on a flight somewhere. When it comes to radiation, an xray will only be requested if the benefit outweighs the risk according to clinical guidelines. Also agree with everything PP said above.