Survey of patient doses from conventional diagnostic radiographic examinations in Syria

The aim of this study is to evaluate radiation doses received by adult patients undergoing eight routine common types of X-ray examination in Syria. These types cover chest PA, lumbar spine PA, lumbar spine LAT, urography, abdomen, pelvis and hip, head and shoulder. This work consisted of measurements for 926 X-ray examinations for patients in 26 governmental hospitals. The mean and third quartile of the dose area product (DAP) to each patient per examination have been measured. The corresponding average effective doses have been computed from the DAP measurement for each examination using NRPP X-Dose software. Comparison of the results was done with those from similar surveys published by the United Nation Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR, 2000, 2007). The present measurements will provide a useful baseline to establish, for the first time, national diagnostic reference levels. These results can be used in the future to evaluate the collective dose to the population from medical exposure and the radiation risks from the various radiological procedures. (authors)