Are Medical Personnel Safe from Radiation Exposure from Patient Receiving Radioiodine Ablation Therapy?.
- Author:
Chang Guhn KIM
1
;
Dae Weung KIM
Author Information
1. Department of Nuclear Medicine, Wonkwang University School of Medicine, Iksan, Jeonbuk, Korea. leokim@wonkwang.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Review
- Keywords:
Radioiodine ablation therapy;
thyroid neoplasm;
radiation protection;
radiation dosimetry;
internal dosimetry
- MeSH:
Humans;
Medical Staff;
Nursing Staff;
Radiation Protection;
Radiometry;
Thorax;
Thyroid Neoplasms;
Thyroidectomy
- From:Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
2009;43(4):259-279
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:Korean
-
Abstract:
Radioiodine ablation therapy has been considered to be a standard treatment for patient with differentiated thyroid cancer after total thyroidectomy. Patients may need to be hospitalized to reduce radiation exposure of other people and relatives from radioactive patients receiving radioiodine therapy. Medical staffs, nursing staffs and technologists sometimes hesitate to contact patients in radioiodine therapy ward. The purpose of this paper is to introduce radiation dosimetry, estimate radiation dose from patients and emphasize the safety of radiation exposure from patients treated with high dose radioiodine in therapy ward. The major component of radiation dose from patient is external exposure. However external radiation dose from these patients treated with typical therapeutic dose of 4 to 8 GBq have a very low risk of cancer induction compared with other various risks occurring in daily life. The typical annual radiation dose without shielding received by patient is estimated to be 5 to 10 mSv, which is comparable with 100 to 200 times effective dose received by chest PA examination. Therefore, when we should keep in mind the general principle of radiation protection, the risks of radiation exposure from patients are low and the medical personnel are considered to be safe from radiation exposure.
