What strategy best addresses exposure creep in digital radiography?

• A. Regularly reviewing and adjusting exposure protocols
• B. Increasing radiation output across all exams
• C. Using outdated exposure protocols without review
• D. Relying on automatic equipment defaults

Answer: (A)

Exposure creep in digital radiography happens when technique factors gradually rise to keep images looking acceptable, which increases patient dose over time without necessarily improving diagnostic quality. The best way to address this is to regularly review and adjust exposure protocols because ongoing protocol updates ensure technique values stay aligned with current detector performance, patient sizes, and clinical tasks. This creates a built-in check against drift, supports dose optimization, and reinforces consistent image quality without unnecessary exposure.

Other approaches miss the mark: simply increasing radiation output across all exams raises dose for every patient; using outdated protocols without review ignores changes in equipment and patient populations; and relying on automatic defaults can lock in suboptimal exposure settings and let creep continue.