Skeletal survey — standard prescribed series
Whole skeleton to a prescribed series; follow-up films at around 11-14 days in suspected physical abuse
Typical, not policy
Timings, volumes and delays here are representative values drawn from published guidance. Scanner generation, injector, cardiac output and local preference all move them. Confirm against your department's own protocol before you rely on a number.
When to use it
- Suspected physical abuse in a child, as part of a safeguarding process.
- Myeloma skeletal assessment where whole-body CT or MRI is unavailable.
Technique
- A defined series of dedicated projections, not a single whole-body exposure; a "babygram" is not an acceptable substitute.
- Delayed repeat films materially increase the yield for healing fractures.
Where it goes wrong
- This is a legal as well as a clinical document — it must be performed to the prescribed standard and reported by a radiologist with the relevant expertise.
- A normal survey does not exclude abuse.
Clinical questions that reach this study
Contrast
None
Acquisition
Safety checks this protocol carries
Derived from the contrast agent and phases above, not authored here — which is why they cannot drift apart from what the protocol actually does.
- Child-sized technique and contrast dose· radiographer at scan