Radiation dose considerations in common paediatric X-ray examinations

Abstract

Even in examinations that did not exceed the DRL, patient protection can be optimised further by appropriate collimation of field size to that necessary for diagnosis.

Estimation of Radiation Dose during Diagnostic X-Ray Examinations of Newborn Babies and 1-Year-Old Infants

“…The wide range of ESD values for each examination and the maximum to minimum ratios less than 10 can be attributed to the use of different X-ray units, exposure factors, image receptors and, most importantly, to variations in patient size within an age group, as previously reported [16,17,26,27] . However, the ratio for the AP abdomen examination of the neonates was 14.5.…”

European Guidelines for AP/PA chest X-rays: routinely satisfiable in a paediatric radiology division?

“…There is consistent agreement throughout the literature that an optimal field size through correct collimation is an important factor in paediatric radiographic dose reduction [17][18][19]. Optimal collimation reduces (scatter) radiation and improves image quality, especially contrast and resolution [20].…”

Pediatric radiation protection

“…(From [9]) Table 1). The recorded patient and exposure data, as well as the measured entrance surface dose (ESD) and effective dose (E), have been calculated in a European dedicated pediatric hospital [33]. The data in comparison with international and European DRLs for various ages are listed in Table 2.…”

“…ESD entrance surface dose, E effective dose. (From[33]) Anteroposterior or PA projection was decided by the technologist, so these two projections were considered as one examination b No ESD-to-E conversion coefficients are provided for these cases…”