Dose variations for biopsy, puncture and drainage under CT guidance: A national survey in 1709 patients

A nation-wide study recently published the dose reference levels for the main CT-guided interventional procedures in 5001 patients. We assessed the impact of patient's age, sex and targeted organ on the patient dose during thoracic and abdominopelvic biopsies and punctures/drainages.

Data were extracted from the previous nationwide study. All biopsies, punctures and drainages for thoracic or abdominopelvic locations performed between January 2017 and June 2019 in all participating centers were included in the study. Multivariable analyses were carried out using a linear regression of the dose-length product (DLP) log, adjusted to age, sex, anatomical location, number of helical acquisitions and inclusion center.

Of the 5001 patients of the initial study, 2383 benefited from thoracic or abdominopelvic procedures, including 674 percutaneous destructions excluded. 1709 patients (44 centers), 1045 men, 664 women, median age 64.4 ± 14.0 years were included. The mean DLP was 751.2 ± 642.7mGy.cm. It was significantly higher in men than women (p = 0.0005) and higher for abdominopelvic procedures than for thoracic locations (p<0.0001).

Doses delivered to patients for abdominal and thoracic biopsies and punctures/drainages performed under CT guidance depend on gender and location. Furthers studies taking into account the patient's morphology and anatomical location of the procedure would allow proposing finer dose reference levels.