PEDIATRIC X-RAY EXAMINATIONS (SPECIAL VIEW)

Children are more sensitive to radiation than adults, so radiation protection in pediatric radiology deserves special attention. This study is concerned with the measurements of pediatric Entrance Skin Dose (ESD) using thermolumenience dosimeter (TLD, LiF 100) for patients ranging from age intervals: 0–5 years, 5–10 years and 10–16 years. A central public pediatric hospital and 104 patients were included in this investigation. By careful selection of patients, three types of simple radiography were selected; (chest, skull and abdomen). Pediatric chest examinations are the most frequent radiological examinations. Comparisons were made between these doses and diagnostic reference levels (DRLs). The results showed that, mean patient skin doses measured with TLD were 0.2 mGy ± 14 %, 1.0 mGy ± 40 % and 1.1 mGy ± 23 % respectively for chest, skull and abdomen examination for age ranged from 10-16 years old. The mean ESD values are found to be within the range of mean ESD reference values except for chest examination. The patient dose measurements are to be continued to establish the national dose reference levels. Also, managing a system for radiologists, radiographers and medical physicists is important to optimize the radiation burden of patients and image quality.