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- Title
Häufigkeit und Dosis diagnostischer und interventioneller Röntgenanwendungen.
- Authors
Nekolla, E.; Schegerer, A.; Griebel, J.; Brix, G.
- Abstract
Background: In Germany, approximately 95% of man-made radiation exposure of the population results from diagnostic and interventional X-ray procedures. Thus, radiation protection of patients in this field of application is of great importance. Objective: Quantification and evaluation of current data on the frequency and doses of X-ray procedures as well as temporal trends for the years 2007-2014. Material and methods: For outpatients the frequency of X-ray procedures was estimated using reimbursement data from health insurances and for inpatients by means of hospital statistics. For the years under review, representative values for the effective dose per X-ray application were determined mainly from data reported by X-ray departments to the competent authorities. Results: In 2014 approximately 140 million X-ray procedures were performed in Germany with some 40% from dental examinations. On average 1.7 procedures per inhabitant and year were almost constantly carried out between 2007 and 2014. Besides dental diagnostics, X-ray examinations of the skeleton and thorax were performed most frequently. The number of computed tomography (CT) examinations increased by approximately 40%. The increase in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was even more pronounced with approximately 55% but overall CT examinations were still performed more often than MRI. The doses per X-ray procedure were only slightly reduced, despite the various dose reduction approaches established in recent years; therefore, the mean effective dose per inhabitant increased from approximately 1.4 mSv in 2007 to 1.6 mSv in 2014, mainly due to the increasing frequency of CT examinations. Conclusion: The principles of justification and optimization of radiological procedures are to be consistently applied in each individual instance, especially in the case of CT examinations.
- Publication
Der Radiologe, 2017, Vol 57, Issue 7, p555
- ISSN
0033-832X
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1007/s00117-017-0242-y