THINK AHEAD.
SAFETY FIRST

IS THERE A CUT-OFF POINT FOR POTENTIALLY RADIATION-INDUCED DISEASES?

Well established is that during fluoroscopic assisted interventions, depending on factors such as patient obesity, procedural complexity and fluoroscopic time, medical practitioners are subjected to relatively high radiation exposure.² The current standards and practices are based on the premise that any radiation dose may result in unfavorable health effects.³∙⁴∙⁵∙⁶∙⁷

Alarmingly, over 50% of OR staff do not feel adequately protected from radiation in the OR.⁸ However, the risk for developing radiation-induced diseases is still an ongoing debate among experts.⁹

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH RISKS THAT MAY BE RELATED TO RADIATION EXPOSURE:

REPORTED ERGONOMIC ISSUES:

  • back/neck pain from using heavy and uncomfortable radiation protection devices.¹

A study on brain tumors occurring in medical practitioners with exposure to ionizing radiation documented 85% left sided malignancy.

Data available for 35 of 45 cases on the side of the brain involved. The malignancy was left-sided in 30 (85%), midline in one, and right-sided in four cases. This accumulation of left-sided versus right-sided tumors could be due to the operator’s routine working position in which the left side of the head is closest to the scatter radiation coming from the patient.¹⁰∙¹¹