Radiation protection in brachytherapic treatment of prostatic carcinoma

Purpose: To evaluate absorbed doses for medical staff and general public deriving from prostate brachytherapy with I-125 seeds. Methods And Materials: Radiation exposure measurements were made for staff and on a subset of 64 patients of the 100 trans perineal I-125 implanted seeds implants at the Vittorio Emanuele, Ferrarotto e Santo Bambino Universitary Hospital. Results: Absorbed doses for operators are very low when using radiation safety devices. The exposure rate at the anterior skin surface due to I-125 implanted seeds ranged from 32 to 120 μSv/hour. Conclusions: The evaluation of dose measurements shows that radiation risk associated to this practice is very low, both for staff that for critical group of population, if they follow the specific radioprotection statements supplied by health physicists. (authors)