Abstract Background: The use of radiological investigation is an accepted part of medical practice. However, there is no known safe radiation dose. Man-made radiation accounts for 13% of total radiation burden, 90% of it is due to diagnostic medical exposure. The most significant studies of the effects of radiation came from the lifetime study of the approximately 90,000 survivors of the atomic bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. These studies considered survivors who received whole-body doses from photons and neutrons in excess of 2.5 mSv as population liable for excess cancers. These survivors include those who were 900 to 1,500 meters away from the "hypocenter," just below the exploding bomb. Objectives: The aim of this study is to make a comparison between the whole-body doses of radiation received by the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the dose received by patients from diagnostic radiological examinations in the first day of admission to the ER department. Materials and methods: In the period 19th October 2008 to 25th November 2008, 273 blunt trauma patients with a revised trauma score of

Do Physician abuse radiation in the emergency department

Abstract Background: The use of radiological investigation is an accepted part of medical practice. However, there is no known safe radiation dose. Man-made radiation accounts for 13% of total radiation burden, 90% of it is due to diagnostic medical exposure. The most significant studies of the effects of radiation came from the lifetime study of the approximately 90,000 survivors of the atomic bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. These studies considered survivors who received whole-body doses from photons and neutrons in excess of 2.5 mSv as population liable for excess cancers. These survivors include those who were 900 to 1,500 meters away from the "hypocenter," just below the exploding bomb. Objectives: The aim of this study is to make a comparison between the whole-body doses of radiation received by the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the dose received by patients from diagnostic radiological examinations in the first day of admission to the ER department. Materials and methods: In the period 19th October 2008 to 25th November 2008, 273 blunt trauma patients with a revised trauma score of