Patient and staff doses for some complex x-ray examinations.

The aim of this study was to measure patient and staff doses simultaneously for some complex x-ray examinations. Measurements of dose-area product (DAP) and entrance skin dose (ESD) were carried out in a sample of 107 adult patients who underwent different x-ray examinations such as double contrast barium enema (DCBE), single contrast barium enema (SCBE), barium swallow, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography (PTC), and various orthopaedic surgical procedures. Dose measurements were made separately for each projection, and DAP, thermoluminescent dosimetry (TLD), film dosimetry and tube output measurement techniques were used. Staff doses were measured simultaneously with patient doses for these examinations, with the exception of barium procedures. The measured mean DAP values were found to be 8.33, 90.24, 79.96 Gy cm(2) for barium swallow, SCBE and DCBE procedures with the fluoroscopy times of 3.1, 4.43 and 5.86 min, respectively. The calculated mean DAP was 26.33 Gy cm(2) for diagnostic and 89.76 Gy cm(2) therapeutic ERCP examinations with the average fluoroscopy times of 1.9 and 5.06 min respectively. Similarly, the calculated mean DAP was 97.53 Gy cm(2) with a corresponding fluoroscopy time of 6.1 min for PTC studies. The calculated mean entrance skin dose (ESD) was 172 mGy for the orthopaedic surgical studies. Maximum skin doses were measured as 324, 891, 1218, 750, 819 and 1397 mGy for barium swallow, SCBE, DCBE, ERCP, PTC and orthopaedic surgical procedures, respectively. The high number of radiographs taken during barium enema examinations, and the high x-ray outputs of the fluoroscopic units used in ERCP, were the main reasons for high doses, and some corrective actions were immediately taken.