The Effects Of X-ray Radiation On Sensitive Organs Of Medical Staffs During Orthopaedic Operation Under Roentgenoscopy

Objective: To study the effects of the amount of radiation on various sensitive organs such as crystalline lens, thyroid , mammary gland, ovaries and gonad in female medical staffs during a simulated orthopaedic operation under roentgenoscopy (OUR). Methods: when atmospheric status of a standard hospital operating room (pressure, temperature,humidity) and experimental devices(the siemens SERIE9600 fluoroscope units, the HSH-TLDs dosimeter, the FJ-427A dosimetry service)had been calibrated before the study, according to experimental design and demand of orthopaedic OUR, two female phantoms, one is under a protective lead apron and another is not, were used as targets to measure radiation exposure under various distance (0.3m, 0.5m, 1m, 1.5m, 2m, 3m, 4m), various fluoroscopic time (10sec, 30sec, 1min, 3min, 5min, 10min, 15min) and various voltage and current (60KV, 2.2mA and 90KV, 4.5mA) corresponding to direct beam contact. There are five sensitive organs including crystalline lens, thyroid, mammary gland, ovaries and gonad regarded as observing sites, and there are five dosimeters on every site used as a means to control random error. At the end of every measurement, observation of dosimeters must be prompts and radiation dose must be reported by dosimetry service right now. Then experimental data, through mean calculation of five dosimeters and equivalent dose conversions,were recorded in order to calculate statistically. The two objective markers of reliability verdict (OMRV) were 40uGy (1, for medical staffs)and 4uG (2, for the public). The methods of statistics were the analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Student-Newman-Keuls (SNK) test by the SAS package under window 98. Results: In this study, the Maximum radiation is 2280uGy and the Minimum is 0uGy. There are some remarkable relations between increase of the actual measured values (AMV) of radiation and elongation of time or Shortening of distance or increase of voltage and current or decrease of protection respectively. However, those relations may be not all linearity under conditions as follows. Firstly, the PMV of radiation exposure are total under OMRV 1 (40uGy) in some groups such as 10sec, 30sec, 1min (beyond 1M), 3min (beyond 1.5M), 60KV and 2.2mA (beyond 1.5M), ovaries and under a protective lead apron. Secondly, the PMV of radiation are total 0uGy and under OMRV 2 (4uGy) in groups of those 1(4M), 2(3M) and 3(2M), and behind a wall or a protective lead screen at the same time. By the ANOVA and the SNK test, between or among the groups of those (0.3M and 0.5M, 2M and 3M and 4M, 10sec and 30sec and 1min and 3min, 10min and 15min, crystalline lens and thyroid, gonad and mammary gland), they are not different significantly. Instead, among the groups of the others, they are significantly different respectively. Conclusion: These results indicate that there are some remarkable correlations between time, distance, voltage, current, protection and radiation exposure. But, those correlations may be not all linearity under certain conditions. These results also indicate that medical staffs will be relatively safe during orthopaedic OUR, if fluoroscopic time is shorter than 30sec or 1min, and if distance is more than 1M, and if voltage and current is less than 90KV and 4.5mA. Especially, if fluoroscopic time is shorter than 30sec and distance is more than 1.5M, medical staffs will become safe therefore protective appliance may be unnecessary. Instead, if fluoroscopic time is longer than 3min and distance is shorter than 0.5M or 1M, safty of medical staffs may become extremely low therefore protective appliance will be necessary to defend radiation damage. Besides, these results indicate that ovaries are safer than crystalline lens, thyroid , mammary gland and gonad during orthopaedic OUR, and that the effects of X-ray radiation exposure on ovaries is barely remarkable.