[Radiation exposure in children undergoing diagnostic imaging: a study of Pamplona County].
OBJECTIVE
To describe a method of calculating and registering the dose of radiation used in Pamplona County in pediatric examinations, and to show the results obtained one year after its implementation.


METHODS
The effective dose was calculated by a program that uses the pediatric files of the United Kingdom's National Radiation Protection Board. This program, incorporated into the Computerized Clinical History, enables an Individual Dosimetric History to be calculated for the entire pediatric population. The effective dose figures were correlated with the risk of radio induced mortal cancer using the estimations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection.


CONCLUSIONS
In one year, 9681 children received 22667 exposures to X-rays in Pamplona County. The annual collective dose on the population of children in the area was 3.1 sieverts, and the mean dose per inhabitant was 0.054 millisieverts. We report the number of each kind of examination for the year, together with the resulting mean effective dose and the risk of mortal cancer it involves. The largest doses were obtained from CT examinations, gastroduodenal studies, and telemetry of the entire spine. We describe and discuss the risk involved in radiological examinations.


CONCLUSIONS
Modern information technology techniques enable individual dosimetric histories to be created using the most modern systems of measurement and registration.
Esparza
J
J
Sección de Radiología Pediátrica. Hospital Virgen del Camino. Pamplona. España. jesparze@cfnavarra.es
Miquélez
S
S
González
A
A
Rubio
A
A
Manso
E
E
Sierro
S
S
Martínez de Estívariz
J
J
Martín
M L
ML
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D011859:Radiography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011874:Radiometry / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013030:Spain