Radiation Exposure in Patients with Isolated Limb Trauma: Acceptable or Are We Imaging Too Much?

The aim of our study was to investigate the cumulative effective dose of radiation resulting from medical imaging in orthopaedic patients with isolated extremity trauma. Deidentified radiology records of consecutive patients without age restriction with isolated extremity trauma requiring operative treatment at a regional hospital were reviewed retrospectively over a 1-year period, and the effective dose per patient for each study type of plain film X-ray, computed tomography, and operative fluoroscopy was used to calculate cumulative effective dose. Values were summarised as mean, ± standard deviation, maximum, and proportion with overdose (>20 mSv). The study cohort included 428 patients (193 male and 235 female) with an average age of 44 years (±28). There were 447 procedures performed, i.e., all involved operative fluoroscopy, 116 involved computed tomography, and 397 involved X-ray. The mean cumulative effective dose per patient was 1.96 mSv (±4.98, 45.12). The mean cumulative effective dose for operative fluoroscopy was 0.32 mSv (±0.73, 5.91), for X-ray was 1.12 mSv (±3.6, 39.23) and for computed tomography was 2.22 mSv (±4.13, 20.14). The mean cumulative effective dose of 1.96 mSv falls below the recommended maximum annual exposure of 20 mSv. This study can serve as a guide for informing clinicians and patients of the acceptable radiation risk in the context of isolated extremity trauma.