Could I get your insight on this?

[HippyDippyLPN]

Wanted to get some thoughts on a scenario from pediatric nurses and see if this is normal protocol.

3 year old male with no significant medical history wakes one morning and will not bear weight on right leg. No apparent swelling or injury, full range of motion (although painful for the child), and nothing else major to speak of just that the 3 year old is in obvious pain when he attempts to walk. Parents gave child a warm bath, pain reliever, massages, but pain still persists.

That afternoon child is taken to the Ped where several tests are performed. They have the child walk, he almost fell into the wall because his leg buckled beneath him. Some neuro tests are performed by the Ped but all look normal. Ped sets child up for STAT CT of the head and basically implies she wants to make sure it's clear before she explored other options. No images of the leg are taking beforehand. CT comes back normal. Child's leg improves 3-4 days later.

Any insight on this? This by the way is my son and as I know little about Ped nursing I am still stumped as to why a CT was ordered before an x ray of his leg. I am of course beyond grateful that my son is healthy but am now faced with a 1k imaging bill (HSA, ugh) I have tried to get answers from the staff after my initial fear wore off as to why such a conclusion was jumped too.. This unwillingness to answer my concerns has led me to think I may need to change practices but I want to get your views on whether I am over thinking this and this is a standard protcol for these type of situations. The radiation exposure concerns me and I am not certain the risk of the exposure out weighed the benefit since he didn't even have a simple x ray before to rule out nothing with his leg. His DX on the pre cert was ataxia...

[JustBeachyNurse, LPN]

I'm sorry for your scare with your child but as per the terms of service of this site members are not permitted to request or offer medical advice. You really need to seek out answers from your pediatrician or request a second opinion from another pediatrician or pediatric specialist. Good luck.