Background: Use of the effective dose in diagnostic radiology permits the radiation exposure of diverse diagnostic procedures to be quantified. Fundamental knowledge of patient doses enhances the implementation of the "as low as reasonably achievable" (ALARA) principle.
Purpose: To provide comparative information on pediatric examination protocols and patient doses in skull, sinus, chest, abdominal, and pelvic radiography examinations.
Material and methods: 24 Finnish hospitals were asked to register pediatric examination data, including patient information and examination parameters and specifications. The total number of examinations in the study was 1916 (1426 chest, 228 sinus, 96 abdominal, 94 skull, and 72 pelvic examinations). Entrance surface dose (ESD) and dose-area products (DAP) were calculated retrospectively or DAP meters were used. Organ doses and effective doses were determined using a Monte Carlo program (PCXMC).
Results: There was considerable variation in examination protocols between different hospitals, indicating large variations in patient doses. Mean effective doses of different age groups ranged from 5 microSv to 14 microSv in skull and sinus examinations, from 25 microSv to 483 microSv in abdominal examinations, and from 6 microSv to 48 microSv in chest examinations.
Conclusion: In chest and sinus examinations, the amount of data was extensive, allowing national pediatric diagnostic reference levels to be defined. Parameter selection in pediatric examination protocols should be harmonized in order to reduce patient doses and improve optimization.