Assessment of the likely stochastic effects associated with the effective dose and renal dose delivered to patients during an abdominopelvic examination in a Moroccan imaging department

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effective dose and the renal dose delivered to patients during an abdominopelvic examinations, in order to estimate the likely stochastic effects and to judge the need for optimization of CT examination protocols. Data from 287 abdominopelvic examinations of adult patients referred to three Moroccan radiology departments were collected. The mean effective doses, mean renal doses, cancer and hereditary risks assessment were estimated using the weighting factors defined in ICRP 103. During the abdominopelvic CT exam, the effective dose received by the patient varies from 8.99 to 12.09 mSv with an average value of 10.29 mSv, and, the renal dose varies between 5.15 and 8.71 mSv with an average value of 7.56 mSv. The risk of induction of abdominopelvic and kidney cancer ranges from 49.44 to 66.49 and from 28.32 to 47.9 for 105 procedures, respectively. For the hereditary risk of abdominopelvic and renal exposure, it was in the range of 17.98 to 21.86 and 10.3 to 17.42 for 106 procedures, respectively. The results obtained show a wide variation in exposure doses during abdominopelvic CT scans from one hospital to another. Even so, the average effective dose and renal dose was generally lower than that recommended by the ICRP.