Radiation doses for barium meal and barium enema examinations

The dependency on x-rays to accurately diagnose disease is continuously increasing despite the biologic effects associated with this ionising radiation. It is therefore imperative that radiation doses are actively monitored and radiation dose audits are performed regularly especially for examinations that are associated with high dose delivery to the radiosensitive organs and tissues of the body. Barium contrast examinations are characterised as some of the radiological examinations that contribute enormously to the collective dose to the patients in the radiology department. This book provides results of radiation doses recorded for barium meal and barium enema examinations at three hospitals in the Western Cape South Africa. Conventional fluoroscopy and digital fluoroscopy units were operated by either radiology registrars or a consultant radiologist. The radiation dose to the patients was measured using Dose Area Product (DAP) meters that were permanently fitted onto fixed fluoroscopy units. The median DAP values 13.6 Gycm2 and 27.8 Gycm2 for BaM and BaE respectively were recommended as the diagnostic reference levels as they are less affected by the varying patients' weights.