Bottom Line: Revised guidelines recommend against routine X-rays for infants with bronchiolitis, a viral lower respiratory tract infection that often lands babies in the hospital. Unnecessary X-rays contribute to health care costs and radiation exposure. Despite the guidelines, an analysis of emergency department visits in the United States suggests no decrease in the rate of X-rays from 2007 to 2015, with nearly half of children under 2 with bronchiolitis still getting imaging. The study lacked clinical data to determine the appropriateness of X-rays.
Authors: Brett Burstein, M.D.C.M., Ph.D., M.P.H., Montreal Children's Hospital, Montreal, Canada, and coauthors
To Learn More: The full study is available on the For The Media website .
(doi:10.1001/jama.2018.9245)
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Editor's Note: The article includes conflict of interest and funding/support disclosures. Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, financial disclosures, funding and support, etc.
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