Paediatric computed tomography (CT) imaging though requested less than adult CT but has shown remarkable growth with raising concerns of increased radiation risk to the paediatric population. This study aims to evaluate age-based radiation dose from paediatric head CT scans at a single centre in Nigeria. This study evaluated 233 paediatric aged 0–15 years and were classified into four age groups; Group 1 (≤1 year), Group 2 (2–5 years), Group 3 (6–10 years) and Group 4 (11–15 years). Patient dose and related scanning protocol data were retrospectively retrieved from the CT scanner. The local dose values were calculated as 25th and 75th percentiles of the distribution of the volume CT dose index (CTDI_vol), dose length product (DLP) and effective dose per age-group. These values were compared with the recommended international diagnostic reference levels (DRLs). The estimated dose values were within limits for the youngest age group (≤1 year old) but showed a clear trend towards higher doses for other age groups as compared with DRLs. The relative difference for CTDI_vol and DLP were ranged between 0‒45% and 8–64%, respectively. The largest difference in DRLs was seen in Group 3 and 4. The dose values were increased with the increasing age; Group 1 received the lowest doses (20 mGy, 345 mGy.cm, and 3.2 mSv) and Group 4 received the highest doses (61 mGy, 1497 mGy.cm, and 4.4 mSv). The local doses were substantially higher than the international DRLs values except for age group ≤1 year, demonstrating a necessity for dose optimization and modification of current acquisition technique towards the reduction of radiation dose among paediatric population.

儿科计算机断层扫描（CT）成像虽然要求比成人CT少，但已显示出显着的增长，并引起了对儿科人群放射风险增加的担忧。这项研究旨在评估尼日利亚单个中心的儿科头部CT扫描基于年龄的辐射剂量。这项研究评估了233名0-15岁的儿科患者，并将其分为四个年龄组。第1组（≤1年），第2组（2-5年），第3组（6-10年）和第4组（11-15年）。回顾性地从CT扫描仪中检索患者剂量和相关的扫描方案数据。局部剂量值计算为体积CT剂量指数分布的第25和第75个百分位数（CTDI _vol），剂量长度乘积（DLP）和每个年龄组的有效剂量。将这些值与建议的国际诊断参考水平（DRL）进行比较。估计的剂量值在最年轻年龄组（≤1岁）的范围内，但与DRL相比，其他年龄组显示出明显的更高剂量趋势。CTDI _vol的相对差异和DLP的范围分别为0‒45％和8-64％。在第3组和第4组中，DRL的差异最大。随着年龄的增长，剂量值增加。第1组接受最低剂量（20 mGy，345 mGy.cm和3.2 mSv），第4组接受最高剂量（61 mGy，1497 mGy.cm和4.4 mSv）。除≤1岁年龄组外，当地剂量大大高于国际DRLs值，这表明有必要进行剂量优化和改进当前的采集技术，以减少儿科人群的辐射剂量。