Readjustment of abdominal computed tomography protocols in a university hospital: impact on radiation dose.

Objective: To assess the reduction of estimated radiation dose in abdominal computed tomography following the implementation of new scan protocols on the basis of clinical suspicion and of adjusted images acquisition parameters.

Materials And Methods: Retrospective and prospective review of reports on radiation dose from abdominal CT scans performed three months before (group A - 551 studies) and three months after (group B - 788 studies) implementation of new scan protocols proposed as a function of clinical indications. Also, the images acquisition parameters were adjusted to reduce the radiation dose at each scan phase.