Reference doses during fluoroscopic procedures

Forty X ray rooms were monitored with dose-area product meters as pan of a Regional Patient Dosimetry Programme, Dose-area product measurements on approximately fifty seven thousand patients undergoing fluoroscopic examinations are presented. The data have been corrected according to patient size where possible. As the dose distributions are skewed the results are presented as first quartile, median and third quartile values. The third quartile value is taken as the reference dose. The following reference doses have been proposed: 19.4 Gy.cm(2), 24.3 Gy.cm(2), 3.6 Gy.cm(2), 4.1Gy.cm(2), 16.9 Gy.cm(2), and 9.7 Gy.cm(2) for ERCP, angiograms, venograms, hysterosalpingograms, angioplasties and T-tube cholangiograms respectively.