Radiation doses to patients undergoing barium meal and barium enema examinations.

The radiation doses received by patients during 41 barium meal (BM) and 42 barium enema (BE) examinations in two Greek hospitals are presented. Radiation dose was measured in terms of the dose area product (DAP). The effective dose and doses to certain organs were estimated using the ODS-60 software. Mean total DAP values were found to be 25 +/- 11 Gy cm2 for BM and 60 +/- 35 Gy cm2 for BE examinations, whereas the estimated mean values of effective dose were 8.6 +/- 4.0 and 24 +/- 16 mSv respectively. DAP to effective dose conversion coefficients were estimated to be 0.34 mSv per Gy cm2 for BM and 0.41 mSv per Gy cm2 for BE.