# Monitoring Pediatric Head CT Scan Dose Levels:
## 3 Results and Discussion
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{1}{c}{} & \multicolumn{5}{c}{**CTDIVol (mGy)**} & \multicolumn{5}{c}{**DLP (mGy\- cm)**} \\ \hline
**Age Group** & **N** & **25 th** & **Median** & **75 th** & **Range** & **25 th** & **Median** & **75 th** & **Range** \\ \hline \(<\)1 y & 22.00 & 9.700 & 18.20 & 18.40 & 6.790–19.30 & 145.0 & 2700 & 304.0 & 92.20–3410 \\ \hline \(\geq\)1 y \(<\)5 y & 53.00 & 17.90 & 19.80 & 21.10 & 8.270–47.00 & 280.0 & 348.0 & 385.0 & 120.0–876.0 \\ \hline \(\geq\)5 y \(<\)10 y & 80.  
quality, or clinical indications (whether they are considered or not), can impact radiation doses, so even the same scanner could generate higher or lower values than DRLs. Using the calculated data, the values at 75% were considered local DRLs (LDRLs). Figure 1 shows these results for both CTDIvol and DLP. The LDRL values of CTDIvol were between \(\sim\)18 mGy and 27.8 mGy. This is within the recommended doses, as provided by [PERSON] et al. [16]. In this study, the authors analyzed data from a large healthcare system to establish DRLs for pediatric head CT scans. They found that the recommended DRLs for pediatric head CT scans should be no more than 50-60 mGy, depending on the age and size of the child. For example, the recommended DRL for a 1-year-old child is 50 mGy, while the recommended DRL for a 10-year-old child is 60 mGy. According to the results, the head CT scan doses given to the children in the relevant age groups in Abu Dhabi were all below the upper-limit values. To further examine the local diagnostic reference limits in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, we compared our results with the available data from other countries. The lack of international uniformity in age stratification for DRLs is a challenge that is often encountered in studies comparing DRLs in pediatric imaging between different countries. In addition, differences in patient characteristics, imaging protocols, and equipment performance may also affect the comparability of DRLs across different regions and countries. Despite these challenges, the comparison of DRLs in pediatric imaging is important for identifying potential areas for improvement and optimization of imaging protocols. We included only reference studies that considered similar age groups of children, ensuring a valid comparison among the data from different studies. Figure 2 shows these comparisons. As can be seen, the received doses were lower than those found in other selected countries. Abu Dhabi's LDRL values are between 5% and 63% lower than those used in other countries, except for Turkey, where the values are lower than those of the UAE, by 5%. These statistics demonstrate that SEHA facilities follow the best protocols for pediatric imaging in accordance with the highest radiation protection standards. Figure 1: (**a**) Local diagnostic reference level for CTDIvol for pediatric head CT scans and (**b**) local diagnostic reference level for DLP for pediatric head CT scans in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, UAE. Our study has a limited comparative component due to the small number of publications on pediatric CT scans and the lack of international uniformity for age stratification for DRLs. Due to this limitation, we were not able to make a concrete comparison between our data with the European guidelines for pediatric imaging [22]. Nevertheless, one can still present a rough comparison, as shown in Table 3 (despite the difference in age groups). The results indicate that Abu Dhabi's local DRLs are comparable to or even lower than European DRLs. For example, for the youngest age group (<1 year), the local DRL in Abu Dhabi for CTDIVol is 18.4 mGy, while the European guidelines' DRL in the two age groups of <3 months and <1 year are 24 mGy and 28 mGy, respectively. This suggests that the local DRL in Abu Dhabi is lower than the European guidelines for the youngest age group.