Evaluation of radiation dose in lumbar spine computed tomography in a single Moroccan center

Abstract

The objective of this study is to evaluate the radiation dose received by patients during a CT scan of the lumbar spine and to define the local diagnostic reference levels (DRLs).Data from 95 adult patients were collected during 1 month from one Moroccan hospital. Dose length product (DLP) and volumetric computed tomography dose index (CTDIvol) were evaluated by determining the 75th percentile as diagnostic reference levels for the lumbar spine computed tomography examination. The DRLs for this exam were compared with other studies.Moroccan local DRLs for adult lumbar spine CT have been determined in terms of DLP and CTDIvol, and they were 844.20 and 32.50, respectively. These DRLs for CTDIvol and DLP were higher than those for Australia and Cameroon and lower than those for Algeria.These comparisons have identified high doses to this examination. Therefore, it is necessary to apply dose optimization while keeping a good image quality for a reliable diagnosis.