Paediatric x-ray examinations in Rio de Janeiro

This work presents the results of a dose survey performed for paediatric patients and carried out in two large paediatric public hospitals in Rio de Janeiro city. The entrance surface dose (ESD) and the effective dose (ED) were evaluated for chest, skull, abdomen, lumbar spine, cervical spine and pe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics in medicine & biology 2006-08, Vol.51 (15), p.3723-3732
Main Authors: Azevedo, A C P, Osibote, O A, Boechat, M C B
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
Brazil
Child
Child, Preschool
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Male
Pediatrics - methods
Radiation Dosage
Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted - methods
Radiography - methods
Radiography - utilization
Radiometry
X-Rays
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Summary:This work presents the results of a dose survey performed for paediatric patients and carried out in two large paediatric public hospitals in Rio de Janeiro city. The entrance surface dose (ESD) and the effective dose (ED) were evaluated for chest, skull, abdomen, lumbar spine, cervical spine and pelvis in antero-posterior (AP), postero-anterior (PA) and lateral (LAT) projections. For each examination, four age groups 0-1, 1-5, 5-10 and 10-15 years were studied. The DoseCal software was used to calculate these doses. Wide variations for the same type of examination and projection have been detected. These variations were evident, in Brazil, from previous work. In spite of the present results being still preliminary, they can give an idea of what paediatric ESDs are like in Brazil. Also, with respect to the entrance surface dose, some of the results are above the reference levels, which cause high ED, as well. On the other hand, the wide range of ESD reflects the disparity of radiographic techniques and demonstrates that the ALARA principle is not being applied in Brazilian hospitals and becomes a concern in terms of public health.
ISSN:0031-9155
1361-6560
DOI:10.1088/0031-9155/51/15/008