In the week in which the country celebrates Children's Day (October 12), the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics (SBP), together with the Brazilian College of Radiology and Image Diagnosis (CBR), launches the campaign "Justify!" in order to make pediatricians and other doctors aware of the need for special care when requesting radiological exams, especially for children and adolescents.
Under the slogan “For more protection in pediatric imaging exams”, the new partnership of the entities has as its central focus to emphasize the principle of justification, which consists of the reflective and careful evaluation of the physician when indicating the performance of diagnostic imaging exams (radio-rays). x and computed tomography).
In this sense, as highlighted by the president of the SBP, Dr. Luciana Rodrigues Silva, the campaign aims to guide Brazilian specialists to be actively engaged in two practical actions that promote greater radiological protection for pediatric patients.
“First, we want to reinforce the need to carefully consider when ordering the test. The current understanding indicates that imaging tests should only be requested when there is a plausible and substantiated justification; The second aspect is to highlight the importance of the pediatrician clearly expressing the clinical indication in his request, since this description contributes to the adequacy of the technique used both in tomography and in x-rays”, he informs.
JUSTIFICATION – As explained by Dr. Dolores Bustelo, a reference in pediatric radiology in Brazil, the principle of justification is an integral part of the “Boon Call For Action” initiative, a compilation of actions officially recommended by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) , from 2017, as a reference for the development of plans to improve radiological protection in medicine in the next decade (2020-30).
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“The principle of justification is a central part of this list of actions and establishes that any health practice should be used only when the benefits for the patient are considerable and outweigh the risks involved. Without a doubt, both tomography and x-rays are examples of advances in health tools, which have already saved thousands of lives. However, its uses cannot occur in a commonplace and inexpressive way. These diagnostic instruments should only be requested if really necessary”, he points out.
CBR CONGRESS – Last Wednesday (8), during one of the online sessions of the 49th Brazilian Congress of Radiology, the president of SBP exclusively presented the official logo of the “Justify” campaign to radiologists and other participating physicians. On the occasion, the president of the CBR, Dr. Alair Augusto dos Santos, emphasized the fundamental relevance of the subject and listed some of the actions organized by the College in recent years in favor of radiological protection.
“We are immensely happy to be able to act alongside the SBP in favor of children and adolescents. We will echo the recommendations on the need for individualized care and tailoring the prescription to each patient. This awareness is fundamental for the two specialists (radiologists and pediatricians) and even opens up the possibility of dialogue between professionals to discuss which test is most indicated or how to obtain the desired result”, he said.
CONTINUITY OF ACTIONS – In 2018, SBP also partnered with CBR to launch the “Image Gently Brasil” campaign, whose function was to broadly inform about various topics inherent to the performance of imaging tests (x-rays and tomography).
The initiative was initiated locally by the Sociedade Paranaense de Pediatria (SPP) and embraced nationally by the SBP and CBR. Likewise, continuing the actions for the radiological protection of children and adolescents, the campaign “Justify!” has the institutional support of SPP and Image Gently Brasil.