Pediatric dose references levels estimation for routine computed tomography examinations in Great Khorasan province, Iran

This study was performed to assess pediatric dose reference level for routine computed tomography (CT) examination (head, chest and abdomen-pelvic) along with its corresponding risks in Great Khorasan province, Iran.

For this purpose, different CT scan parameters of patients in 1-5, 6-10, and 11-15 years old were collected from 23 public hospitals. The total and main organ effective dose (ED),  and DLP was estimated by Impact Dose software for each age group. In addition, the cancer risk of each CT examination was calculated according to the BEIR VII model and ICRP 103 data with PCMX software.

The results of the estimated values of dosimetric quantities indicated that the range of changes of these quantities is very wide (3 to almost 10 times) even in a certain age group. In common CT scans, the highest value for the average dose received by the patient was 27.14 mGy for the brain, 11.41 mGy for the lung, and 9.88 mGy for the bladder, respectively. Also the highest amount of REID in men and women are caused by abdominal-pelvic and breast CT scan, respectively.

Although the values of studied quantities are not significantly different from similar reports, however, this does not reduce the important and necessity of the present study, as knowing the real amount dosimetric quantities in each area can help local authorities in revising and optimizing protocols to reduce patients’ dose.