Assessment of entrance surface doses for newborn babies within an intensive care unit

摘要

Newborn babies with health conditions or those who have been born prematurefrequently require treatment in the neo-natal intensive care unit (ICU). The exposure to ionizingradiations in childhood increase two or three times the risk of cancer induction compared to the caseof adults. The study describes the distribution, frequency of radiological examinations and estimatesthe ESD for the most important radiological procedures. The statistical process has been carried outby comparing the average values of the ESD with the reference levels by the ""test. The average ofESD for the chest examination compared to the reference levels are high statistic significance(p < 0.001). Irrespective of a child" weight, the kilo-voltage, used has been below the values,recommended for all radiological procedures. Worrying, in the case of this group of children, is notthe ESD for one single exposure, but the repeated examinations during the child" hospitalizationperiod, leading to cumulative doses, to which it is likely that many other may be added duringchildhood. The incorrect use of the low kilo-voltage technique as a consequence of the small volumeand weight of these babies, causes the increase of the dose.