Article

Patient Dose Estimation during Radiological X-Ray Procedures of Lower Extremities

Abstract

The use of X-ray to investigate the lower extremities plays an important role in the health system of the country. During these radiological procedures a significant amount of radiation dose received by the patients’ organs in most cases the skin organ that must be assessed to prevent patient from danger of radiation such as Cancer. The purpose of this research is to estimate the radiation doses received by the patients undergoing lower extremities x-ray examinations. The study was conducted in Kebbi State’s referral hospitals such as Sir Yahaya Memorial Hospital [SMH] and Federal Medical Centre [FMC] for the period of six month in order to determine the radiation dose received during lower extremities radiographic examination, covering a sample of 150 patients. The exposure factors such as kilovolt (kV), exposure time product (mAs), Film Focus Distance (FFD), Focus to Skin Distance (FSD) and patient’s age were recorded in the data collection form designed and entered into excel spreadsheet. Entrance Skin Dose was calculated using Mathematical expression incorporated into excels spreadsheet. The mean exposure parameters and ESD were estimated using statistical software. The mean ESD values calculated were used for determination of diagnostic reference level for all procedures. Inter-centre comparisons were performed and found that, the SMH results are significantly higher than FMC as a result of variation in exposure factors. The ESD results were well compared with other studies and found to be higher remarkably in some examinations. The diagnostic reference level results were obtained and compared between two centers but found to be higher in SMH than in FMC. The inconsistency in selecting exposure factors for same procedure in the two centers may lead to the over exposure of patients unnecessarily. Therefore, there is need for justification and optimization of some radiological procedures performed in the two centers.

Keywords: Lower extremities, Entrance Skin Dose, and Exposure parameters