Simulated experimental measurement of exposure dose to patients from endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography operation

Objective: To estimate the doses to patients from ERCP operation through experimental measurements. Methods: A retrospective analysis was made of 56 ERCP operations in three hospitals, and meanwhile, the tube voltage and current, fluoroscopy time, accumulated doses, DAPs (dose-area product) and photographic frames were also recorded for statistical analysis. Three cases of RECP operation that had led to high, medium and low DAP values were selected, respectively, as high, medium and low dose groups based on anthropomorphic phantom (AP). ERCP operation was simulated on AP on the basis of putting TLDs in it. The absorbed doses of organs were measured while effective doses while calculated. Results: The effective doses for high, medium and low groups were 2.69, 11.52 and 39.27 mSv, respectively. The effective dose was 14 times higher in high dose group than that in low group. The highest organ doses for three groups were all concentrated in the irradiation fields. Conclusions: Organ doses from ERCP phantom experiments vary largely in different groups. Compared with phantom experiments of other interventional types, ERCP can be regarded as one of interventional means leading to high-dose. It is advisable to reasonably and safely use intervention diagnosis and therapy and in order optimize radiation doses to patients. (authors)