Estimating Radiation Dose and Proposing Institutional Diagnostic Reference Levels for Paediatric Fluoroscopy of...

To compare age- and weight-specific methods used to estimate radiation doses and to propose institutional diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) for paediatric fluoroscopy of micturating cystourethrogram (MCUG).

In this retrospective study, MCUG fluoroscopy parameters were gathered for 100 paediatric patients from July 2025 to January 2026. The data included the MCUG paediatric procedures for patients aged 0-15 years. The data were categorized into paediatric weight- and age-specific groups. Paediatric weight-specific groups were ≤ 5, 5 < - 10, 10 < - 20, and >20 kg, and paediatric age-specific groups were ≤ 1, 1 < - 5, 5 < - 10, and < 10 - 15 years old.

Differences were observed in dose area product (DAP) and DRL results for age- and weight-specific methods, especially for paediatric age groups of 1 < - 5 and 5< - 10 years old compared with paediatric weight groups of 5 < -10 kg and 10 < - 20 kg (p = 0.037 and 0.035). The proposed institutional DRLs for the MCUG fluoroscopy were 22.1, 63, 169, and 457 μGyċm² for paediatric weight groups of ≤ 5, 5 < - 10, 10 < - 20, and >20 kg. The estimated effective doses reached 0.81, 2.18, 2.08, and 2.5 mSv.

The paediatric weight-specific method shows realistic and lower DAP and DRL values. The results of DRLs for the MCUG fluoroscopy were acceptable when compared with literature results.