Pediatric musculoskeletal trauma: imaging strategies revisited

The aim of this thesis was to optimize the assessment and implementation of radiographic imaging strategies in children following musculoskeletal trauma, with a special focus on wrist trauma, bicycle spoke injury and children with suspected cervical spine injury. Until now, it was not clear when radiographic imaging was indicated in children with acute wrist trauma and what type of radiographic imaging was needed in children with bicycle spoke injury. It was unclear if the international guidelines for radiographic imaging of the cervical spine in children were applied correctly and whether the clinical decision tools, which are described in these international guidelines, were suitable for children.
Taken all results of our studies into consideration we can conclude that dedicated imaging protocols for the pediatric trauma population are necessary and that protocols used in adults cannot simply be applied in a pediatric population.
We believe that with this thesis we are one step closer to optimization of imaging strategies in children with musculoskeletal trauma.