Pediatric and neonatal sonography encompasses all ultrasound examinations performed in patients from birth through adolescence. It requires adapting standard ultrasound techniques to small body habitus, open fontanelles, incompletely ossified skeletal structures, and the physiologic and pathologic conditions unique to the pediatric age group.
Neonatal applications include brain imaging through the fontanelle, hip screening for developmental dysplasia, abdominal surveys for pyloric stenosis and intussusception, and renal imaging for congenital anomalies. Pediatric sonographers also evaluate appendicitis, ovarian pathology in girls, scrotal conditions, musculoskeletal disorders, and vascular access in small patients. Congenital cardiac defects are evaluated with pediatric echocardiography. Patient cooperation strategies — play, positioning aids, and family-centered care — are essential skills.
The ARDMS Pediatric Sonography (PS) specialty examination is available to RDMS holders. Pediatric sonographers are employed at children’s hospitals, pediatric radiology departments, and neonatal intensive care units. The field offers the unique satisfaction of contributing to care at the most critical and formative stages of life.