Assessment of Entrance Skin Dose in routine x-ray examinations of chest, skull, abdomen and pelvis of children in five selected hospitals in Nigeria.

Abstract

It is assumed that children are more susceptible to the effects of ionizing radiation and so deserves special attention. Entrance skin doses (ESD) and Effective dose (E) to pediatric patients were estimated during chest, skull, abdomen and pelvis examination in five Nigeria hospitals using DoseCal software. The mean ESD for Chest (PA) in age range 1-5 in the five hospitals (H1-H5) were 70, 139, 130, 105 and 111μGy, respectively. The median ESD values in all the examinations were compared with the NRPB and EC reference level and were found to be lower except for Chest PA and Chest Lateral examinations. The mean effective doses were compared with those found in literature and were found to be comparable. Data shows that there is variation in the result of the ESD obtained and so adherence to guidelines should be demonstrated