Local Diagnostic Reference Levels for Common Pediatric X-Ray Examinations in Khorasan Razavi Province, Iran

Introduction Given the fact that children are more sensitive to radiation, compared to adults, special attention needs to be paid to radiation protection in pediatric radiology. Diagnostic reference level (DRL) has been defined to be employed as a practical tool for examining the overall performance of a radiological center in terms of patient dose among a series of similar equipments in an area or an institution as a Local DRL (LDRL). Materials and Methods To establish DRL for diagnostic X-ray examinations of children in KhorasanRazavi province, data were collected from 627 pediatric patients. The average of entrance surface doses (ESDs), arising from chest and abdomen examinations, were examined for three different age groups. Results Local DRL (LDRL) were calculated to be 77, 126, and 138 µGy for chest examinations of