Dosimetric Evaluation of the Scanning Activity at the Regional Hospital of Kaolack (Senegal)

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the dose delivered to patients during scannographic examinations at the Kaolack Regional Hospital (one of the 14 regions of Senegal located in the center-west of the country, 192 km from Dakar) and to compare these irradiation doses at diagnostic reference levels found in the literature in order to optimize our scanning protocols. To achieve this goal, we carried out a prospective study involving 218 CT scans. These examinations focused on cerebral, thoracic, abdominopelvic and lumbar spine acquisitions made in adults and cerebral only in children. We compared the median values of dosimetric indicators (CTDIvol and DLP) per acquisition with NRDs in the literature. During the course of this study, we found a dosimetric ratio lower than that of the NRDs for thoracic, abdomino-pelvic and lumbar spine CT scans in adults and a significant dosimetric exceedance for brain scans in adults and in children. These results encourage us to extend these dosimetric evaluations to other hospital structures in order to establish rigorous monitoring of dosimetric indicators and to respect the principles of radiation protection and good practice.