RADIATION EXPOSURE OF ANAESTHETICS STAFF INVOLVED WITH PAEDIATRIC PET/CT PROCEDURES.

Abstract

Aim: General Anaesthesia is often utilized in Paediatric PET imaging to reduce motion artefacts and undesirable muscle physiological uptake of 18F-FDG in children that are unable to comply with the requirements for diagnostic PET imaging. This study aims to collect detailed radiation exposure data for anaesthetic staff during paediatric PET/CT procedures at a tertiary hospital, specifically including the patient positioning phase. Method(s): This study was a prospective, observational investigation using convenience sampling to select paediatric patients who required general anaesthesia for PET/CT imaging at a tertiary hospital. Data collection spanned from July to October 2024 and focused on patients needing PET/CT for oncology purposes. Radiation exposure for anaesthetic staff was measured using an Atomex AT6130 radiation survey meter which was worn by staff. Measurements were taken over three time periods: End of the uptake period After positioning the patient for imaging After recovery from GA The total Radiation exposure for the entire procedure was also recorded. Radiation exposures of staff were recorded in microsieverts (muSv) along with the time of the reading. Result(s): Conclusion(s): In this study, we noted the highest radiation exposure received from the anaesthetics team whilst performing general anaesthesia on a paediatric PET patient was 7.15muSv, which is considered low. Australia's annual background radiation exposure is 1.7mSv per year (2). For the general public, a limit of 1mSv of radiation per year is permitted (2). Radiation workers must wear personal dosimeters during occupational exposures and have an annual limit of 20mSv (2). Based on this data, a member of the anaesthetic team would need to perform approximately 140 paediatric PET scan procedures per year to reach the limit of 1mSv, which is highly unlikely in our practice.