Estimation of effective doses to whole-bodies and hands of facilitating staff from radioiodine-131 ablation therapy patients.

Background: Workers in the field of radiation therapy are exposed to radiation hazards, and it is necessary to take precautions to limit the radiation dose to nursing staff and physicists. Objective: To evaluate the external dose rate (EDR), effective whole-body dose (EHD) and hand equivalent dose (HED) for facilitating staff from radioiodine-131 (RAI-131) ablation therapy patients. Methods: One hundred and eighty patients were selected from two radiotherapy centers in Cairo, Egypt in this study and divided into three groups, Group-A, Group-B and Group-C according to administered activities of (RAI-131) of 3700 MBq, 4440 MBq and 5550 MBq for ablation therapy patients respectively. The EDR, EHD and HED were measured using electronic dosimeters. Results: The average EDR were 79.1 ± 12.1, 22.7 ± 8.5, 7.0 ± 4.0, 2.9 ± 1.3 and 1.9 ±.9.0 μSv h⁻¹ for group-A, and about 87.8 ± 14.0, 25.6 ± 9.0, 8.1 ± 5.0, 3.4 ± 2.0 and 2.4 ± 1.0 μSv h⁻¹ for group-B and were 93.5 ± 17.0, 31.6 ± 11.0, 10.1 ± 7.0, 4.7 ± 3.0 and 3.4 ± 1.5 μSv h⁻¹ for group-C at 2 h, second, third, fourth and fifth days, respectively after administration of RAI-131. The average annual effective doses were 2.76 ± 0.09 and 1.55 ± 0.05 mSv at center 1, and were about 2.96 ± 0.09 and 1.71 ± 0.06 mSv at center 2 for physicists and nurses, respectively. Conclusion: The EDR as well as the EHD and the HED received by radiation therapy workers up to the fifth day of administered activity RAI-131 were within the limits of values recommended by the International Commission on Radiation Protection (ICRP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]