Keywords:
Radioprotection / Radiation dose, Paediatric, Digital radiography, Dosimetry, Diagnostic procedure, Radiation safety, Education and training, Dosimetric comparison
Authors:
A. Moran, S. McCoubrey, L. Bowden, D. Murphy, C. Saidlear; Dublin/IE
DOI:
10.26044/ecr2019/C-2439
Results
Table 1 (a) and (b) display the DRLs for Chest & Pelvis X-ray exams respectively,
for a range of different age groups.
Both show that there is relatively good agreement,
particularly at the older age groups 4 - < 10 years and 10 - < 15 years,
between the respective values across both paediatric sites.
The table also shows that the DAP values across both sites are significantly lower than the respective European DAP values outlined in RP 185.
Figures 1 and 2 visually illustrate the values displayed in Table 1 for the Chest and Pelvis DRLs.
Table 1 (c) and Figure 3 provide a comparison between the DRLs for abdominal X-rays at the 4 - < 10 yrs age group,
for both sites.
There is good agreement across both paediatric sites and the respective DRLs are significantly lower than that given in RP 185.
Due to the limited time frame of this study,
patient numbers for TSCUH abdominal examinations are still small.
A more comprehensive study will be performed at a later date
Table 2 provides the DRLs for the different spine and skull X-ray procedures over a range of age groups at OLCHC.
TSCUH currently have insufficient numbers in these particular procedures in order to provide an adequate cross site comparison.
Follow up audits will be conducted at TSCUH for the different X-ray procedures in order to provide a more comprehensive cross site comparison and verify that the dose optimisation is appropriate across all paediatric sites.