Introduction:

Quantifying the dose received during radiological studies presents technical challenges, but it is an essential component of patient safety.

Objective:

To describe the frequency and cumulative skin entry dose (SED) of X-ray radiation in preterm infants admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of a public maternity hospital during 2023.

Materials and Methods:

This was a retrospective descriptive and observational study. Premature infants aged 24 to 36.5 weeks gestational age, discharged from the NICU and undergoing radiographic studies during hospitalization, were included. Variables: sex, gestational age, diagnosis, anatomical location of the radiograph (X-ray), number of X-rays, cumulative radiation dose (RDD), and radiological equipment used. The cumulative dose was calculated according to the parameters used by the radiologistis and expressed in mGy. Data were analyzed using SPSS. The institutional ethics committee approved the study protocol.

Results:

209 premature infants with a gestational age of 31.5 ± 3 weeks and a weight of 1648 ± 680 g were included. A total of 592 X-rays were performed, 7.7 ± 8 per patient, with a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 50. The cumulative radiation dose was 0.908 ± 1269 mGy, with a minimum of 0.10 and a maximum of 9.8 mGy. A positive correlation was found between the number of X-rays and the cumulative dose (r = 0.86).

Conclusions:

The average number of X-rays per patient was 7, with a maximum of 50; however, most neonates had fewer than 10 X-rays during their hospitalization. The cumulative radiation exposure (DEP), even when using digital equipment, was high. There was a positive correlation between the number of X-rays performed and the cumulative radiation dose.

        · resumen en Español     · texto en Español     · Español ( pdf )