Patient dose during radiological examination in the follow-up of bariatric surgery.

A patient dose survey was carried out measuring the kerma-area product (KAP) values during radiological evaluation in the follow-up of bariatric surgery. The procedures were performed by three radiologists to adjust laparoscopic gastric bands and to detect postoperative complications after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedures to treat morbid obesity. Total fluoroscopy time, exposure factors and the overall contribution of fluoroscopy to the accumulated KAP value were recorded. The median KAP values were used to estimate organ doses and effective dose to a standard patient; the radiation risk associated with the procedures was also evaluated. The doses were smaller for one of the three radiologists, owing to a more appropriate beam collimation and a reduction of the screening time. The KAP values ranged from 1.6 to 7.1 Gy cm(2) for the laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding management, and from 3.0 and 8.3 Gy cm(2) for the radiological examinations after gastric bypass. As a whole, the effective doses associated to these procedures were between 0.5 and 2.7 mSv. The organs receiving the highest doses were not only breast, stomach, pancreas and liver, but also lungs, owing to of their high radiosensitivity, significantly contributed to the effective dose.