A Study On The Effects Of Various Factors On Patient Doses In Interventional Radiology Procedures

Purpose: To investigate patient radiation doses in interventional radiology procedures, to identify procedures associated with higher radiation doses, to study methods for evaluate patient skin doses, and to determine the effects of various factors on patient doses.Methods: Demographic and radiation dose Data were collected on 444 instances in interventional radiology(IVR) procedures. Entrance skin doses(ESD) for 46 patients were measured by thermoluminescent dosimeters(TLDs); The dose index, defined as the ratio between ESD and cumulative dose(CD), was also calculated. Studies on the effects of various factors on patient doses were performed with TLDs,virtual water solid phantom and ionization chamber.Results: In 28% of instances (125 of 444), which were principally brain vas,liver and pelvis procedures,et al, CD was greater than 1 Gy. The maximum CD was 4.227Gy. Embolization procedures, transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt(TIPS) creation, and percutaneous transhepatic cholangio drainage(PTCD) are associated with higher patient dose. There was wide variation in the doses observed for different instances of the same procedure. Statistically significant differences in dose analogues were present among most of the procedures in different organs. We observed CD and DAP correlate well overall (r = 0.960, P<0.01). The correlation between CD of fluorograph and DAP of fluorograph (r=0.950, P<0.01) is well. The same is true for the correlation between CD of fluoroscoping and DAP of fluoroscoping (r = 0.910, P<0.01).ESD and CD correlate well overall for 46 patients (r= 0.855, P<0.01). Statistically significant differences in the dose index were observed among the procedures in different organs(χ2=25.279,P<0.05). In 95.7% of instances (44 of 46), the dose index was less than 1.0, thereby, CD over estimated ESD for most procedures. Factors, which affected patient radiation doses, mainly includes three aspects:...