RE: Exposure from a typical ER x-ray

["Richard Kay" <richard@imaging-resources.com>]

I would hate to sound facetious, but there is no such thing as a "typical"
radiograph.  It could be as little as 2 - 3 mRem for a finger, up to 5000
mRem for a cat scan.  Othr factors have to be taken into consideration as to
density, area to be radiographed, number of radiographs taken, size of
patient, etc.  If you could be a little more specific  as to a particular
exam, the dose could be narrowed down a little.

There is an average patient exposure guide for Entrance Skin Exposures as
listed in Oregon Rules for the Control of Radiation (OAR 333-106-045) (1988)
as lists the following:

AP Abdomen 		23 cm	Grid	40" SID	   400 Speed film/screen 	200 - 433 mRem
Lumbar spine AP	23 cm	Grid	   "		"			252 - 487 mRem
Cervical Spine AP	13 cm	Grid	   "		"			95	    mRem
Skull LAT		15 cm	Grid 	   "		"			70	    m Rem
Chest	PA		23 cm	NO	72 " SID	"			4-11	    mRem
Chest   PA		23 cm	YES	72 " SID	"			10 - 18	    m Rem

Richard
richard@imaging-resources.com
http://www.imaging-resources.com/

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu [mailto:radsafe@romulus.ehs.uiuc.edu]On
Behalf Of Steven Dapra
Sent: Monday, July 17, 2000 8:02 PM
To: Multiple recipients of list
Subject: Exposure from a typical ER x-ray

July 17

Let's assume that a patient is brought to an emergency room and needs an
x-ray to determine the extent of his injury.  It could be anything -- car
wreck, fell off a scaffold (broken bones), gunshot wound, stabbing.

What is the exposure (in millirems) for a "typical"  or "average" emergency
room x-ray?

Thank you for your assistance.

Steven Dapra
sjd@swcp.com



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