Abstract:

Objective: The present study aims to evaluate radiation exposure in cranial computed tomography (CT) scans of children who were admitted to an emergency service due to minor cranial trauma. Material and Methods: Radiation exposure doses of 1199 patients with CT scans due to minor cranial trauma in an emergency service were calculated. Results: It was found that children aged 0 to 5 were exposed to a significantly higher radiation dose compared to those aged 5 to 16. (p<0.001). However, no significant differences were observed among children with cervical and abdominal CT scans in terms of their age groups (p=0.838 and p=0.106, respectively). Finally, it was observed that among children with thorax CT scans, those aged 10 to 16 were exposed to a significantly higher radiation dose compared to those aged 0 to 1. (p=0.001). Conclusion: We suggest that the use of cranial CT scan in children admitted to an emergency service due to cranial trauma can be reduced by clinical monitoring, informing the patient and parents about negative effects of ionizing radiation and training physicians about CT scan orders.

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