ASSESSMENT THE PEDIATRIC IMAGING AND ITS RADIATION DOSE IN THE PATIENTS HOSPITALIZED IN NEUROSURGERY DEPARTMENT

Abstract

<strong>Background:</strong> The children hospitalized in neurosurgery department of hospitals underwent lots of medical imaging especially brain imaging and chest X-ray. This imaging repeatedly continues during their hospitalization.

<strong>Objective:</strong> This study intended to assess total medical imaging of these patients to calculate the effective radiation dose that delivers to these children.

<strong>Methods:</strong> Total medical imaging of 120 patients were tracked using PACS system. The request of imaging also assessed to check the reason of imaging prescription. The effective dose due to different medical imaging was extracted from previous studies and a total effective dose of each patient was calculated.

<strong>Results:</strong> 68 and 52 male and female with the mean age of 5.82 y/o ranging from 1month to 15 y/o who was hospitalized in neurosurgery department of one of University of Medical Science entered to the study. Totally the number of CT scans of brain, abdomen, and chest were 666, 6 and 6 respectively. The number of plain radiography of chest, abdomen, pelvis, and skull were 233, 28, 19 and 16 respectively. The effective dose (mSv) due to CT scan of brain, abdomen, and chest were calculated as 1332, 60 and 48 mSv. The effective dose of plain radiographs of chest, abdomen, pelvis, and skull were 4.66, 28, 13.3 and 1.12 mSv. According to the results the number of brain CT scan for each patient were between 1 to 30. On average each patient had 5 brain CT images. The request for imaging didn't have a complete information about the reason for imaging. This number of brain CT scans impose the total dose of 1332 mSv which is a lot. The request for brain CT scans should be optimized in order to reduce the radiation dose of children. Although the number of CXRs were also high, ranging from 1-36 for each patient with the average number of 3 for each patient, but this imaging does not impose a more than 5 mSv effective dose to patients provided the imaging techniques (kV and mAs) and field collimation are standard.

<strong>Conclusion:</strong> The necessity of brain CT scans in neurosurgery departments should be optimized. Imaging protocols should be provided in order to reduce the unnecessary imaging and so that radiation dose of the children. cing:-.85pt'> brain, abdomen, and chest were 666, 6 and 6 respectively. The number of plain radiography of chest, abdomen, pelvis, and skull were 233, 28, 19 and 16 respectively. The effective