Patient radiation doses in therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in patras and the key role of the operator

The patient radiation doses, in conjunction with the operator experience, in therapeutic endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedures, performed in our hospital, were obtained. Ninety-six patients participated in the study and were divided into 3 groups, based on the operator experience. The dosemetric indices, fluoroscopy time (FT), cumulative dose (K_a,r) and air kerma-area product (P_KA), were collected. For the total and weight banding group the third quartile values of the distribution of FT, K_a,r and P_KA were 2.90 and 2.92 min, 6.89 and 6.93 mGy and 1.84 and 1.85 Gycm^2, respectively, and were comparative or significantly lower than the corresponding values previously reported. Taking as a criterion the operator, the differences in the patient radiation doses were statistically significant, with the highest dose recorded for the operator of the lowest experience degree. The values obtained could contribute in establishing local and national diagnostic reference levels and in optimising ERCP procedure.