The interdependence of staff and patient doses in interventional radiology. 1997

J R Williams
Department of Medical Physics and Medical Engineering, Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, UK.

Staff doses arising from the use of X-rays are principally due to scattered radiation. This is related to the dose received by the patient expressed as the dose-area product (DAP). Doses to patients in interventional radiology are generally higher than for other fluoroscopically guided procedures. Doses to interventional radiologists are, therefore, amongst the highest associated with the use of diagnostic X-rays. The results of staff dose monitoring normalized to DAP should provide an indicator of those procedures which are associated with particularly high radiation exposures to staff, and should help to identify those radiologists whose practice may result in unnecessarily high doses to themselves. A study has been made of patient doses in two X-ray rooms used for interventional procedures associated with vascular and liver diseases. Doses to radiologists in these rooms were normalized to DAP. It was found that the average doses to the body, neck and hands were 0.05, 0.89 and 2.45 microSv/(Gy cm2), respectively for those radiologists with no significant involvement in hepatobiliary procedures. Higher doses were found for one radiologist whose workload included biliary drainage. The whole body dose was 0.17 microSv/(Gy cm2) or 5.8 mSv per year. It was shown that the doses to the neck and hands for the biliary drainage work was 6.59 and 29.0 microSv/(Gy cm2), respectively. This study has demonstrated the value of DAP as a measure of radiologist workload in respect of its significance in terms of staff dose.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D011829 Radiation Dosage The amount of radiation energy that is deposited in a unit mass of material, such as tissues of plants or animal. In RADIOTHERAPY, radiation dosage is expressed in gray units (Gy). In RADIOLOGIC HEALTH, the dosage is expressed by the product of absorbed dose (Gy) and quality factor (a function of linear energy transfer), and is called radiation dose equivalent in sievert units (Sv). Sievert Units,Dosage, Radiation,Gray Units,Gy Radiation,Sv Radiation Dose Equivalent,Dosages, Radiation,Radiation Dosages,Units, Gray,Units, Sievert
D011871 Radiology A specialty concerned with the use of x-ray and other forms of radiant energy in the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
D002404 Catheterization Use or insertion of a tubular device into a duct, blood vessel, hollow organ, or body cavity for injecting or withdrawing fluids for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. It differs from INTUBATION in that the tube here is used to restore or maintain patency in obstructions. Cannulation,Cannulations,Catheterizations
D006801 Humans Members of the species Homo sapiens. Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012189 Retrospective Studies Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons. Retrospective Study,Studies, Retrospective,Study, Retrospective
D015642 Radiology, Interventional Subspecialty of radiology that combines organ system radiography, catheter techniques and sectional imaging. Interventional Radiology
D016273 Occupational Exposure The exposure to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents that occurs as a result of one's occupation. Exposure, Occupational,Exposures, Occupational,Occupational Exposures

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