Eye lens exposure to medical staff during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography.

The paper presents a study of the radiation doses to eye lens of medical staff during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedures performed in a busy gastroenterology department. For each procedure the dose equivalent to the eye, exposure time, dose rate, Kerma Area Product and fluoroscopy time were recorded. Measurements were performed for a period of two months in four main positions of the operating staff, and then extrapolated to estimate annual doses. The fluoroscopy time per ERCP procedure varied between 1.0 min and 28.8 min, with a mean value of 4.6 min. The calculated mean eye dose per procedure varied between 34.9 μSv and 93.3 μSv. The results demonstrated that if eye protection is not used, annual doses to the eye lens of the gastroenterologist performing the procedure and the anesthesiologist can exceed the dose limit of 20 mSv per year.