Avaliação das doses e riscos decorrentes da ausência de radioproteção na medicina veterinária

Abstract

Radiodiagnosis in veterinary medicine is widespread, as it provides better diagnosis and treatment, due to its ability to visualize anatomical structures in a non-invasive way in animals (domestic, wild or production). What in theory seems like an ideal scenario, in reality reveals challenges that need to be overcome. In general, animals become restless and/or aggressive during the procedure, requiring immobilization, and this role is left to veterinary professionals. In the literature, there are records of the hands of these workers on the radiographs, so by being exposed to the primary radiation beam and not using radioprotection equipment (due to lack of knowledge or negligence), they intensify the possibility of harmful effects on their health. From this perspective, the aim of this study was to determine the doses received by workers who are indispensable in the X-ray examination room, investigating doses with and without radioprotection. The analysis was carried out by dosimetry at the Hospital Veterinário da Universidade Federal de Uberlândia and by simulation using the Monte Carlo Simulation. The results show that, with the use of lead gloves, the scattered radiation went from 670.1 nGy to 362.5 nGy, for the extremities it went from 208.8 µGy to 0.5 µGy (99.75% reduction) in a conventional small animal X-ray (50 kV, 200 mA, 63 ms and single shot) and there was an increase in the energy received in cases with higher voltage. This proved the need to implement a well-established radiation protection culture for professionals exposed to radiation everyday.