Diagnostic reference levels for common paediatric fluoroscopic examinations performed at a dedicated paediatric Australian hospital.
BACKGROUND
Diagnostic reference levels (DRL) of procedures involving ionising radiation are important tools for optimising radiation doses delivered to patients and to identify cases where the levels of dose are unusually high. This is particularly important for paediatric patients undergoing fluoroscopic examinations as these examinations can be associated with a high radiation dose. In this study, a large amount of paediatric fluoroscopic data has been analysed to: establish local DRL, identify the most significant factors determining radiation dose to patients, and modify fluoroscopic techniques to optimise the examination protocols.


METHODS
Paediatric fluoroscopic studies performed at our institution from April 2010 to May 2015 have been retrospectively analysed to determine range, mean, 75th and 95th percentiles of Dose-Area Product (DAP) and fluoroscopic screening time for Micturating Cystourethrography (MCU), Airway, Airway and Swallow, Barium Swallow and Meal, Barium Follow Through and Barium Enema studies.


RESULTS
Currently, no Australian paediatric fluoroscopic DRL data are available for comparison and thus our data can only be compared with international published data. No major changes to examination protocols or modification to fluoroscopic techniques were found necessary as our data compared well with the international published values.


CONCLUSIONS
The dose delivered to patients depend on a number of factors particularly the experience of the operators. However, DRL are also important, as shown in this study, as they enable best practice by providing feedback to the operators on their performance and benchmarking the institution with other institutions.
SA Medical Imaging, Women's and Children's Hospital, North Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Giovanni
G
Bibbo
SA Medical Imaging, Women's and Children's Hospital, North Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Debbie
D
Balman
SA Medical Imaging, Women's and Children's Hospital, North Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Rebecca
R
Linke
D001315:Australia; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005471:Fluoroscopy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D061214:Patient Safety; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D012016:Reference Values; D012189:Retrospective Studies
diagnostic reference levels; fluoroscopic screening time; paediatric fluoroscopic DAP; paediatric fluoroscopic DRL