Diagnostic Reference Levels as a Quality Assurance Tool for Routine X-ray Examinations in Sudan

Background The purpose of the study is to prove that diagnostic reference levels (DRLs) diagnostic radiology is the best optimizer of radiation dose to patients in Sudan, and improve quality assurance program of diagnostic imaging. The DRL is usually set at the third quartile value of the distribution of typical doses derived from those surveys both nationally and internationally. Using the third quartile or 75th percentile is a compromise between being overly stringent an overly complacent. The result of initial proposed DRL by calculating the entrance surface dose (ESD) for Conventional Radiological examinations. Materials and Methods A total ten major hospital radiological department (eight governmental and two military), were assessed by estimating entrance surface dose (ESD) for seven radiographic examinations including skull (AP, LAT), chest (PA, LAT), abdomen (AP), lumbar spines (LAT) and pelvis (AP) exam. The proposed DRLs values were compared with measure entrance surface dose in different countries and their results were compared with dose levels recommended by relevant organizations. National and international values in the world. The descriptive parameters such as, 1st quartile, mean, median, 3rd quartile, minimum, maximum and standard deviation of each DRL value are reported. Results The results obtained in mGy were, 6.0 for the skull (AP), 7.1 for the skull (LAT), 0.9 for chest (PA), 9.2 for abdomen (AP), 18.3 for lumbar spines (LAT) and 8.1 for pelvis (AP). Conclusion valuable for national DRLs can provide a database for future dose measurements and improve the image quality and eventually reducing the dose exposed to patents.