Addressing as Low as Reasonably Achievable (ALARA) in Pediatric Computed Tomography (CT) Procedures

During past three decades, there has been a remarkable increase in the number of patients undergoing computed tomography (CT) procedures. Although CT is a valuable diagnostic tool, its use involves some potential health effects, especially increasing the risk of radiation induced carcinogenesis. Therefore, it is necessary that the patients ‘dose to be kept as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) and all radiation dose optimization strategies to be applied. The increasing use of CT in the past decades, reports of a significant fraction of patients undergoing multiple CT examinations, as well as the risk of radiation health effects has created a global concern among the scientific and media literatures. Paralleling this, many dose optimization strategies has been developed that needed to be addressed, particularly in pediatric patients. In this review, we have addressed these strategies with focus on pediatric patients to achieve lower doses.