Radiation dose in defecography.

The effective dose equivalent, as an expression of total patient risk for exposure to limited areas of the body, and gonadal doses associated with hereditary effects were estimated in 67 consecutive subjects (43 women and 24 men) who underwent defecography. With use of measured entrance exposure values and data from Monte Carlo simulations, the mean effective dose equivalent was estimated at 4.9 mSv +/- 1.6 (490 mrem +/- 160) for women and 0.6 mSv +/- 0.2 (60 mrem +/- 20) for men. The ovarian dose was 15 mSv +/- 5 (1.5 rem +/- 0.5). The testes are not within the primary beam and therefore are exposed to scattered radiation only, hence the low received dose of 0.14 mSv or less (14 mrem or less). These data indicate that defecography is among the radiologic procedures associated with a considerable, but not extreme, radiation dose.