Radiation protection for the parent and child in diagnostic nuclear medicine

Administration of a radiopharmaceutical to a parent or child for diagnostic purposes will result in certain specific radiation hazards, yet it can yield information vital to patient management. These hazards have been cited as a reason for the reluctance of some referring clinicians and, indeed, nuclear medicine practitioners to exploit paediatric radiopharmaceutical investigations (Piepsz et al. 1991). Ignorance of these hazards has the following consequences. Firstly, a valuable diagnostic procedure could be denied to a parent or child patient without justification, thereby compromising their management. Secondly, inappropriate recommendations could result in either excessive restrictions or an unnecessarily high radiation dose to a patient's family and to hospital staff. All members of a nuclear medicine service should be familiar with these radiation risks in order to provide appropriate guidance and to dispel any unwarranted fears. (orig.)