Radiation dose levels for conventional chest and abdominal X-ray procedures in elected hospitals in Sudan

E Babikir; Hussein A Hasan; A Abdelrazig; M A Alkhorayef; E Manssor; A Sulieman

doi:10.1093/rpd/ncv108

Radiation dose levels for conventional chest and abdominal X-ray procedures in elected hospitals in Sudan

Radiat Prot Dosimetry. 2015 Jul;165(1-4):102-6. doi: 10.1093/rpd/ncv108. Epub 2015 Apr 6.

Authors

E Babikir¹, Hussein A Hasan², A Abdelrazig³, M A Alkhorayef⁴, E Manssor⁵, A Sulieman⁵

Affiliations

¹ Radiological Sciences Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 10219, Riyadh 11433, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Diagnostic Radiology Department, College of Medical Radiologic Sciences, Sudan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 1908, Khartoum, Sudan etom@ksu.edu.sa.
² Diagnostic Radiology Department, College of Medical Radiologic Sciences, Sudan University of Science and Technology, P.O. Box 1908, Khartoum, Sudan.
³ Radiation Safety Department, Sudan Atomic Energy Commission, P.O. Box 3001, Khartoum 11111, Sudan.
⁴ Radiological Sciences Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, P.O. Box 10219, Riyadh 11433, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Radiology and Medical Imaging Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 422, Alkharj, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

PMID: 25852182
DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncv108

Abstract

This study aimed to assess patient entrance surface air kerma (ESAK) during chest and abdominal X-ray procedures in screen film radiography (SFR) and computed radiography (CR) to establish dose reference levels. Patients' doses were measured in five hospitals for a total of 196 patients. ESAK was calculated from exposure parameters using DosCal software. The X-ray tube output (mGy mAs(-1)), accuracy of exposure factors, linearity and reproducibility were measured using an Unfors Xi dosimeter. The overall mean and range of ESAK during chest X-ray were 0.6 ± 0.3 (0.1-1.3) mGy, while for abdominal X-rays they were 4.0 ± 3.2 (1.3-9.2) mGy. Hospital with a CR system was found to use relatively higher doses. Dose values for abdominal X-ray procedures were comparable with previous studies. The dose for chest X-ray procedure was higher by a factor of 2-3 compared with the current international reference levels.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Equipment Design
Female
Film Dosimetry
Hospitals
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Quality Control
Radiation Dosage
Radiography, Abdominal / methods
Radiography, Abdominal / standards*
Radiography, Thoracic / methods
Radiography, Thoracic / standards*
Radiometry
Reference Values
Reproducibility of Results
Software
Sudan
X-Rays
Young Adult