Repeat radiographs are necessary to obtain the required diagnostic information, which increases the patient's radiation dose and detracts from the “as low as reasonably achievable” (ALARA) principle. The aim of this study was to analyse the reject rate for digital radiography, causes of repetition, the most commonly repeated types of examinations for fixed and portable radiography and reject rate variations between different technologists. The data were collected from major medical imaging departments in Saudi Arabia (n = 27,238 x-ray images). Of the 27,238 images acquired, 2,682 were rejected, resulting in an overall reject rate of 8.96%. Remarkably, when rejected images of individual anatomical areas were evaluated, some areas were observed to have reject rates as high as 20% and 66% for fixed and portable digital radiography, respectively. For fixed and portable radiography, pelvic and lumbar spine procedures had the highest reject rates, respectively. Additionally, the projections with the highest reject rates for fixed and portable radiography were the shoulder axial and lumbar spine cross-table lateral projections, respectively. This study recommends initiating more consistent criteria for image quality along with a feedback scheme within the medical imaging departments to guide internal education programs.

中文翻译：

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沙特阿拉伯数字放射线照相图像废品率评估：横断面研究

为了获得所需的诊断信息，需要重复进行射线照相，这会增加患者的辐射剂量并偏离“合理可实现的尽可能低”（ALARA）原则。本研究的目的是分析数字放射线照相的拒绝率、重复的原因、固定和便携式放射线照相最常见的重复检查类型以及不同技术人员之间的拒绝率差异。数据收集自沙特阿拉伯的主要医学影像部门（n = 27,238 张 X 射线图像）。在获取的 27,238 张图像中，有 2,682 张被拒绝，总体拒绝率为 8.96%。值得注意的是，当评估各个解剖区域的拒绝图像时，观察到某些区域的固定和便携式数字放射线照相的拒绝率分别高达 20% 和 66%。对于固定和便携式放射线摄影术，骨盆和腰椎手术的拒绝率分别最高。此外，固定式和便携式放射线摄影拒绝率最高的投影分别是肩轴投影和腰椎跨台侧向投影。本研究建议在医学影像部门内启动更一致的图像质量标准以及反馈计划，以指导内部教育计划。