medical decision support medical decision support
Sign In

Community-Acquired Pneumonia (CAP) - Indications for Follow-up Chest X-Rays in Infant

Purpose: To identify an infant or child with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) who may benefit from a follow-up chest X-ray.

Description

Some infants and children with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) may benefit from follow-up chest but for many infants these are unnecessary. Unnecessary chest X-rays should be avoided in infants in order to minimize exposure to radiation. The authors are from the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.


 

Patient selection: infant (older than 3 months) or child with CAP who has been started on therapy

 

Indications for follow-up chest X-rays during initial management::

(1) failure to improve with therapy

(2) deterioration or progressive symptoms

(3) clinical instability after placement of a chest tube or VATS for a parapneumonic effusion

 

Follow-up chest X-rays weeks later may be indicated if the patient:

(1) has recurrent pneumonia in same lobe

(2) had lobar collapse on initial X-ray AND there is suspicion of anatomic anomaly, foreign body or mass

 


To read more or access our algorithms and calculators, please log in or register.

Specialty

Objective

ICD-10