Screening and Testing for Pregnancy in Adolescents Undergoing Radiologic Procedures—Why, How, and When?

• Teens have unique developmental and behavioral risks for pregnancy.
• Need institutional policies to screen teens for pregnancy pre radiation exposure.
• Teens may be unaware of being pregnant during first trimester.
• High-risk gestational age for teratogenic radiation effects is 9-15 weeks.

Adolescents are a subset of patients with unique developmental and behavioral risks that present a challenge to radiology staff in determining risk of pregnancy when performing procedures using ionizing radiation. This article presents information to guide thinking and help develop policies for screening and testing. A review of the current guidelines by the American College of Radiology is applied to a case study to illustrate the why, how, and when of pregnancy screening and/or testing in adolescents undergoing radiologic procedures.