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.