Investigation and analysis of CT dose to paediatric patients in Tianjin / 中华放射医学与防护杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To study the level of CT dose to paediatric patients in Tianjin, and to provide basic data for establishing the diagnostic reference levels for paediatric patients from CT examinations in Tianjin.Methods:In 2022, a general survey was carried out of the CT doses to the head, chest, abdomen and pelvis of the scanned paediatric patients in two tertiary pediatric hospitals and seven tertiary general hospitals in Tianjin. The scanned pediatric patients were divided into four age groups in terms of the age of -1, -5, -10 and -15 years, and 20 patients were investigated in each age group in each hospital. The basic information were collected on the scanned patients, CT scanning parameters, volume CT dose index (CTDI vol), dose length product (DLP), and the differences in CTDI vol and DLP on the same site among different age groups and different types of hospitals were analyzed. Results:There were significant differences in CTDI vol and DLP between different age groups at the same site (head, chest, abdominal and pelvic, CTDI vol:χ2=296.51, 193.82, 291.72, P<0.001; DLP: χ2=291.22, 263.63, 344.97, P<0.001). There were significant differences in CTDI vol and DLP among different types of hospitals on the same site (head, chest, abdominal and pelvic, CTDI vol:Z=-13.13, -7.57, -15.27, P<0.001; DLP: Z=-9.07, -6.15, -11.57, P < 0.001). Conclusions:The 75 th percentile values of CTDI vol and DLP for pediatric head, chest, abdomen and pelvis CT scanning in tertiary hospitals in Tianjin are at a good level, and the dose on some examination sites are relatively high. Further optimization of pediatric CT scanning procedures is necessary.