Audit of computed tomography examinations from two selected radio-diagnostic centers in South-South Nigeria

Abstract

Background: Despite the fact that the number of CT exams is small among all radiography investigations, a high amount of medical radiation exposure comes from CT application. Most developed nations have adopted regular audits to ensure optimization of ionizing radiations in the CT examinations, but on the contrary, it has infrequently been performed in developing countries like Nigeria. Objectives: This study was designed to carry out an audit of CT examinations at two selected diagnostic centers in the South-South region of Nigeria. Materials and methods: This study was a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted in two radiological facilities, which involved 210 tomographs of the chest, head, and abdomen, selected using a convenient method. The CT examinations were done using the departmental protocols and the generated data were analyzed statistically using descriptive statistics. Results: Head examination was the most commonly performed CT examination (56.7%), followed by abdominal 28.6 % and the least 14.8% was chest. The most common indication was a road traffic accident (RTA) 11.4%. The distribution of the type of CT machine that was used for the study showed that the Toshiba machine was used for most of the subjects 132 (62.9%) followed by Optima CT660 78 (37.1%). It was seen that 48.6% of the study used 0.75s, 40.5% used 0.5s, 10.5% used 0.35s and only 0.5% used 1s scan time. The effective doses were adult head (2.31±0.14), chest (4.65±0.21), abdominal (7.70±0.17), pediatric head (2.81±0.21), and pediatric chest (9.96±0.12). Conclusion: The carrying out of clinical audits is imperative to ensure both safeties of patients and diagnostic accuracy.