Study of Radiological Practices in Côte d’Ivoire: Case of the Frontal Chest Examination

Abstract

Objective: The aim of our work is to study radiological practices in C?te d’Ivoire regarding the examination of the frontal chest in order to optimize the dose received by patients. Materials and Methods: The work was carried out in 11 of the most frequented radiology centers and involved 330 patients. The equipment used in addition to those that can be found in an X-ray room is the DAP-meter. Using the DAP-meter, we measured the Dose in the air (Dair) then we calculated the Entrance Surface Dose (De). Results: We have by the statistical method of the 75th percentile determined the Diagnostic Reference Level (DRL): 0.28 ± 0.03 mGy and by the arithmetic average, the average of the entrance surface dose (Dem): 0.23 ± 0.03 mGy. Since the DRL is lower than the Dem, the dose is said to be optimized. However by comparing the DRL of our work to the DRL values obtained in other countries, we can say that efforts can be made to further protect patients from unnecessary doses. This involves increasing the voltage, decreasing the load, increasing the detector focal point distance, and increasing additional filtration.