50 Years of Existence of X-rays in Orthopedic Operation Theater: A Review

Abstract

Abstract The radiation hazards evaluation is very important for justifying and ensuring satisfactory protection. The surgeon may receive exposure to the hands from the primary beam and to the rest of the body from the scattered beam. In academic institutions, one should always keep in mind that surgeons-in-training and technicians may be exposed to excessive radiation. One has to be also very careful with pediatric and pregnant patients. The radiosensitivity of pediatric patients is 10 times more compared with adults. Issues concerning X-ray exposure should be understood in the correct perspective and it should not create undue apprehension in the minds of surgeons, which will forbid the optimum use of this invaluable modality. It is very important that practitioners should be aware of the effective dose and should ensure that they use it wisely and effectively. The International Commission on Radiological Protection recommendation identified two types of effects against which protection is required. “Stochastic” effects are those for which the probability of an effect occurring, rather than its severity, is regarded as a function of dose without threshold, whereas “non-stochastic” (deterministic) effects are those for which the severity varies with the dose and for which a threshold may occur. Most importantly a piece of practical advice to orthopedic surgeons and operation theater personnel for optimum radiation protection should be given as reported by various authors. Recommended limits of exposure to ionizing radiation as advised by the National Council on Radiation Protection are updated from time to time as new information becomes available. Radiation protection infrastructure in India is constantly being strengthened based on experience and continued research and development activities at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai, and is keeping pace with the increasing use of radiation in radiotherapy, diagnosis, nuclear medicine, and industrial radiography. BARC has developed in-house thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) and an automatic reader system for occupational radiation monitoring. Personnel monitoring of over 70,000 occupational workers is carried out using TLD.