DOSE ASSESSMENT ASSOCIATED WITH PATHOLOGY

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate how changes in exposure parameters due to pathological suspicions can increase the dose on chest X-rays in two positions, posteroanterior and lateral, and whether the dose delivered to the patient is in accordance with the value recommended by RDC 611/2022 (IN No. 90). Methodology: An exploratory and descriptive study was carried out based on data previously collected in an observational way in a hospital in the city of Salvador-BA. A total of 200 exposure parameters (voltage and current-time product) were collected from the 100 patients, and which pathologies were associated with each of them. These collected data were reproduced in the digital fixed X-ray equipment, belonging to the school clinic of the Federal Institute of Bahia. An X-ray measurement system with an ionization chamber and solid-state dose sensors specific for X-rays was used, which indicated the value of the skin entry dose (DEP) in software installed on a laptop. Results: It was found that the value of EPD delivered to patients is in accordance with the maximum reference value established by RDC 611/2022 (IN No. 90). The values of the exposure parameters showed that even due to the physiological change caused by the pathogens, the voltage (kV) was little altered, while the value of the current product-time (mAs) had a large increase of 210% between the incidences. Conclusion: Although the value found for the entry dose into the skin was in accordance with the established limits, it was noted that for each pathology, little was done for a proportional change of the selected parameters, not only for the pathological suspicions, but also between the incidences, while the penetrability of the beam was little altered, the amount of X-rays produced was doubled,  increasing the dose without actually having a diagnostic value for imaging.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.56238/sevened2024.039-018