Radiation exposure from conventional radiographic examinations in very and extremely low birth weight patients

• Published in: Radiation physics and chemistry (Oxford, England : 1993) Vol. 140; pp. 252 - 259
• Main Authors: Gois, M.L.C., Schelin, H.R., Denyak, V., Bunick, A.P., Legnani, A., Paschuk, S.A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.11.2017; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Birth weight; Dosimetry; Exposure; Extremely low birth weight; Human exposure; Intensive care; Neonatal care; Neonatal intensive care unit; Patients; Radiation; Radiation effects; Radiographs; Radiography; Very low birth weight; Extremely low birth weight; Dosimetry; Neonatal intensive care unit; Very low birth weight
• ISSN: 0969-806X; 1879-0895
• DOI: 10.1016/j.radphyschem.2017.02.013

The survival of very premature neonates has improved significantly at the last decades owing to the utilization of modern intensive care interventions that usually requires prolonged hospitalisation and are accompanied by frequent radiographic examinations. Their elevated radiosensitivity and numerous examinations combined with their greater remaining lifetime raise the issue of high risk for radiation-induced malignancies. Because it is presently impossible to substitute this type of examinations with others that do not involve radiation exposure, investigations on a hospital's routine practices becomes relevant. In this work, we present the results of an investigation on the radiation exposure of patients with birth weight lower than 1500g in one paediatric hospital in Brazil. We analyse some important patient characteristics, like weight, gestational age, length of stay, and number of radiographs performed in the neonatal intensive care unit, in connection with the patient dose. The obtained results are compared with the existing information from other studies. •Radiographers do not take into account change in patient size.•Total incident air kerma in INCU, on average, is equal to 3.5mGy.•Imperfection in infant warmer construction leads to 4 times dose increase.