ESTABLISHMENT OF RADIATION DOSES FOR PEDIATRIC X-RAY EXAMINATIONS IN A LARGE PEDIATRIC HOSPITAL IN TURKEY.

Pediatric patients are more sensitive to ionizing radiation when compared with adults. The aim of this study was to evaluate the radiation doses for some common pediatric x-ray examinations performed with various digital radiography systems. Quality control tests of the digital radiography systems were carried out according to international published protocols before the pediatric dose measurements. Radiation dose measurement was performed by using the x-ray tube outputs and thermoluminescent dosimeter dose measurement methods. In the present study, radiation doses were assessed for 247 chest, 230 pelvis, 194 skull and 73 abdomen x-ray examinations and in total 744 pediatric patients doses were measured. Pediatric patients were classified into four age groups 0-1, 1-5, 5-10 and 10-15 years as given by European Commission guidance. Effective doses were determined for each examination using a PCXMC 2.0 Monte Carlo program. The mean measured entrance skin doses for the age interval 1-5 years and AP projection by using tube output measurement methods were 149 µGy for chest, 304 µGy for pelvis, 387 µGy for skull and 199 µGy for abdomen examinations. The radiation dose results obtained in this study were in the range of the published results in the literature.