Shaista Khan, Muhammad Zubair Zahir, Jawad Khan, Zahir Shah.
Frequency of common causes of rejected/ repeated chest x-rays in radiology department of a teaching hospital.
Gomal J Med Sci Jan ;14(3):164-6.

Background: The employment of reject analysis as part of overall Quality Assurance (QA) programs in clinical radiography and radiology services in the evaluation of image quality is a well established practice. In this study we emphasize upon the common causes of rejected / repeated chest X-rays in order to provide relevant information that would help achieve sound reduction in radiation exposure and cost as well as develop acceptable image quality. Material & Methods: The study design is cross sectional. This study was conducted at Radiology Department of Peshawar Institute Of Medical Sciences from 1st January 2015 to 1st June 2015 during which 1200 chest X -rays were reported. Those X-rays which were rejected / repeated were analyzed to know the frequency of various causes of rejection / repetition. The data was analyzed using statistical package SPSS version 10. Results: From 1st Jan 2015 to 1st June 2015 1200 chest X-rays were performed at Peshawar Institute Of Medical Sciences using Toshiba 100mAs/150kv latest computed radiography system. The total number of X-rays repeated were 58 making the reject rate 4.8%. X-rays rejected due to overexposure were 48.8%, 37.9% due to underexposure, 6.9% due to faulty positioning, 6.9% due to patient movement and 3% due to artifacts. Conclusion: Rejected / repeated X-rays are a common problem in every radiology department .In this study we identify that the commonest cause for chest X-ray repetition is exposure problems followed by faulty positioning, patient movement and artifacts. These problems are faced mainly due to poor technical skill with an element of inattentiveness or due to suboptimal X-ray machine performance which can be avoided by using proper radiological techniques and regular quality assurance programs in every radiology department.

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