Patient effective dose and radiogenic risks from fluoroscopically assisted surgical reconstruction of femoral fractures.

Abstract

The objectives were to assess patient effective radiation dose from fluoroscopically guided surgical reconstruction of femoral fractures and provide normalized data for the estimation of patient effective dose and risks associated with such procedures performed in any laboratory. The fluoroscopic control required during surgical reconstruction of femoral fractures was classified into two types identified by beam orientation, i.e., posterior-anterior (PA) and lateral crosstable (LC) exposures. The duration and the dose area product (DAP) of each exposure were monitored in 24 patients with femoral fractures. Patient dose per DAP unit and per minute of fluoroscopy were measured at 14 radiosensitive organs/tissues using an anthropomorphic phantom and thermoluminescence dosimetry. The typical effective dose to patients with femoral fracture treated surgically in our institution was 11.6-21.7 microSv. This effective dose is estimated to cause an excess of 1.4 fatal cancers per million patients treated, and an excess of 0.4 hereditary disorders per million of births. Induction of deterministic skin injuries to treated patients is highly improbable at the dose levels found in this study. Patient effective dose and associated risks from a typical fluoroscopically guided surgical fixation of femoral fracture are low. However, they may be significantly elevated if treated patients are young individuals and/or the fluoroscopic exposure is prolonged. The present data may be used to determine effective dose to patients undergoing surgical reconstruction of femoral fracture in any institution.