Short communication: a lateral will do?

Efforts to reduce the dose of diagnostic medical irradiation by applying selective criteria for radiographic examinations have been addressed by the Royal College of Radiologists in their Guidelines. Reduction of the number of views of an area has also been suggested by some authors. Deviating from one of the fundamentals of skeletal radiology which requires at least two views of any part of the skeleton may lead to misdiagnosis. This concept is considered in relation to the lumbar spine. Continued routine acquisition of at least two views for the radiographic examination of the lumbar spine is stressed.