Proceedings of the British Institute of Radiology

Abstract

An extensive study is being undertaken in the West Midlands Regional Health Authority to assess the radiation risk to prodpatients undergoing a wide range of diagnostic radiology procedures (simple and complex). The increasing availability of dose-area product (DAP) meters makes routine assessment of patient dose during fluoroscopic procedures easier. The study aims to provide regional reference values of dose-area product readings (Gy cm2) for all types of examinations. Examinations investigated include amongst others chest, abdomen, cervical spine, pelvis, lumbar spine, venograms, barium meals, barium enemas, small bowel enemas and cardiac catheterization. Data for 30 adult patients per X-ray room are collected for the simple examinations, with approximately 30 patients per radiologist/cardiologist per X-ray room for the fluoroscopic examinations. As expected there is a wide range of dose-area product values observed for examinations of the same type. Table I below summarises the of DAP values collected for a sample of examinations. Early results have given mean dose-area products approximately 50% lower than the NRPB reference levels for barium meals (25 Gy cm2) and barium enemas (60 Gy cm2), and 25% lower for the lumbar spine examination (15 Gy cm2). The large size and geographical distribution of this study, is expected to provide a realistic estimate of the radiation risk to the average patient undergoing a wide range of X-ray examinations in Great Britain today.