Establishment of DRL for Pediatric General Radiography in 5-year-old Patients in South Korea

In this study, the diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for a 5-year-old patient were set for the general radiography, using the projection conditions used in actual hospitals and a glass dosimeter and the measurement conditions corresponding to the international standards. The DRLs are established by actually measuring the entrance surface doses (ESD) at 131 hospitals. The entrance surface dose (ESD) for the skull posterior-anterior projection ranged from 0.18 mGy to 3.52 mGy, with an average of 0.83 mGy and a 75th percentile value of 1.00 mGy. The entrance surface dose (ESD) for the skull lateral projection is between 0.12 and 3.19 mGy, with the average dose at 0.66 mGy, and the third quartile value at 0.80 mGy. The entrance surface dose (ESD) for the abdomen anterio-posterior projection is between 0.04 and 3.33 mGy, with the average dose at 0.62 mGy, and the third quartile value at 0.83 mGy. The entrance surface dose (ESD) for the pelvis anterio-posterior projection is between 0.05 and 4.45 mGy, with the average dose at 0.68 mGy, and the third quartile value at 0.87 mGy. Based on third quartile values and Through advice from clinical experts, the DRLs for 5-year-olds in Korea were set at 1.0 mGy for skull PA, 0.8 mGy for skull LAT, 0.8 mGy for abdomen AP, and 0.8 mGy for pelvis AP. Through this study, we established 4 DRLs for pediatric general radiography. It is expected that DRLs will gradually decrease in the future through efforts to reduce patient doses.