Towards the establishment of national diagnostic reference levels in Tunisia: a multicentre survey in paediatric CT.

Autor: Bouaoun A; University of Tunis El Manar, Higher Institute of Medical Technologies of Tunis (ISTMT), LR13ES07 Laboratory of Biophysics and Medical Technologies, Tunis, Tunisia., Ben Omrane L; University of Tunis El Manar, Higher Institute of Medical Technologies of Tunis (ISTMT), LR13ES07 Laboratory of Biophysics and Medical Technologies, Tunis, Tunisia.; National Centre of Radiation protection (CNRP), Tunis, Tunisia., Douira Khomssi W; Children's Hospital, Tunis, Tunisia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of radiological protection : official journal of the Society for Radiological Protection [J Radiol Prot] 2022 Jul 11; Vol. 42 (3). Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Jul 11.
DOI: 10.1088/1361-6498/ac767a
Abstrakt: This work focuses on the determination of the radiation doses for a total sample of 916 children, categorised into four age groups (<1, 1-5, <5-10, <10-15 years) undergoing the most frequent paediatric CT scans performed in different scan facilities in Tunisia in order to establish the national diagnostic reference levels (DRLs). Dose evaluation concerned the dosimetric indicators: volume computed tomography dose index (CTDI vol) and dose-length product (DLP). The different paediatric CT protocols and practices were also evaluated. The results show a large variation in doses between different radiology departments. For head scans, the respective DRLs for children aged <1, 1-5, 5-10 and 10-15 years were 26, 38, 51 and 51 mGy, respectively, for CTDI vol and 384, 664, 873 and 978 mGy cm, respectively, for DLP. For the chest, the equivalent respective DRLs were 8, 10, 12 and 15 mGy for CTDI vol and 118, 330, 442 and 526 mGy cm for DLP. For the abdomen, the respective DRLs were 9, 13, 19 and 18 mGy for CTDI vol and 353, 485, 592 and 1073 mGy cm for DLP. This study shows that the optimisation of paediatric CT procedures should be a priority, especially within regional hospitals. The implementation of corrective actions will take place after the initial DRLs. These actions, including recommendations and guidelines to good practice, should be a joint effort of all stakeholders, including health authorities, the radiation protection regulator, professional societies and universities.
(© 2022 Society for Radiological Protection. Published on behalf of SRP by IOP Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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