Biomaterial Database

Staff radiation doses to the lower extremities in interventional radiology. 2007

C P Shortt, and H Al-Hashimi, and L Malone, and M J Lee

Department of Radiology, Beaumont Hospital, Beaumont Road, Dublin 9, Ireland.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the radiation doses to the lower extremities in interventional radiology suites and evaluate the benefit of installation of protective lead shielding. After an alarmingly increased dose to the lower extremity in a preliminary study, nine interventional radiologists wore thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) just above the ankle, over a 4-week period. Two different interventional suites were used with Siemens undercouch fluoroscopy systems. A range of procedures was carried out including angiography, embolization, venous access, drainages, and biopsies. A second identical 4-week study was then performed after the installation of a 0.25-mm lead curtain on the working side of each interventional table. Equivalent doses for all nine radiologists were calculated. One radiologist exceeded the monthly dose limit for a Category B worker (12.5 mSv) for both lower extremities before lead shield placement but not afterward. The averages of both lower extremities showed a statistically significant dose reduction of 64% (p < 0.004) after shield placement. The left lower extremity received a higher dose than the right, 6.49 vs. 4.57 mSv, an increase by a factor of 1.42. Interventional radiology is here to stay but the benefits of interventional radiology should never distract us from the important issue of radiation protection. All possible measures should be taken to optimize working conditions for staff. This study showed a significant lower limb extremity dose reduction with the use of a protective lead curtain. This curtain should be used routinely on all C-arm interventional radiologic equipment.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D011829	Radiation Dosage	The amount of radiation energy that is deposited in a unit mass of material, such as tissues of plants or animal. In RADIOTHERAPY, radiation dosage is expressed in gray units (Gy). In RADIOLOGIC HEALTH, the dosage is expressed by the product of absorbed dose (Gy) and quality factor (a function of linear energy transfer), and is called radiation dose equivalent in sievert units (Sv).	Sievert Units,Dosage, Radiation,Gray Units,Gy Radiation,Sv Radiation Dose Equivalent,Dosages, Radiation,Radiation Dosages,Units, Gray,Units, Sievert
D011835	Radiation Protection	Methods and practices adopted to protect against RADIATION.	Protection, Radiation
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D012542	Scattering, Radiation	The diversion of RADIATION (thermal, electromagnetic, or nuclear) from its original path as a result of interactions or collisions with atoms, molecules, or larger particles in the atmosphere or other media. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)	Radiation Scattering,Radiation Scatterings,Scatterings, Radiation
D013819	Thermoluminescent Dosimetry	The use of a device composed of thermoluminescent material for measuring exposure to IONIZING RADIATION. The thermoluminescent material emits light when heated. The amount of light emitted is proportional to the amount of ionizing radiation to which the material has been exposed.	Dosimetries, Thermoluminescent,Dosimetry, Thermoluminescent,Thermoluminescent Dosimetries
D015641	Radiography, Interventional	Diagnostic and therapeutic procedures that are invasive or surgical in nature, and require the expertise of a specially trained radiologist. In general, they are more invasive than diagnostic imaging but less invasive than major surgery. They often involve catheterization, fluoroscopy, or computed tomography. Some examples include percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography, percutaneous transthoracic biopsy, balloon angioplasty, and arterial embolization.	Interventional Radiography
D016273	Occupational Exposure	The exposure to potentially harmful chemical, physical, or biological agents that occurs as a result of one's occupation.	Exposure, Occupational,Exposures, Occupational,Occupational Exposures
D018709	Statistics, Nonparametric	A class of statistical methods applicable to a large set of probability distributions used to test for correlation, location, independence, etc. In most nonparametric statistical tests, the original scores or observations are replaced by another variable containing less information. An important class of nonparametric tests employs the ordinal properties of the data. Another class of tests uses information about whether an observation is above or below some fixed value such as the median, and a third class is based on the frequency of the occurrence of runs in the data. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed, p1284; Corsini, Concise Encyclopedia of Psychology, 1987, p764-5)	Kolmogorov-Smirnov Test,Kruskal-Wallis H Statistic,Mann-Whitney U Test,Rank-Sum Tests,Spearman Rank Correlation Coefficient,Wilcox Test,Wilcoxon Rank Test,Non-Parametric Statistics,Nonparametric Statistics,Statistics, Non-Parametric,Kolmogorov Smirnov Test,Mann Whitney U Test,Non Parametric Statistics,Rank Sum Tests,Rank Test, Wilcoxon,Rank-Sum Test,Statistics, Non Parametric,Test, Kolmogorov-Smirnov,Test, Mann-Whitney U,Test, Rank-Sum,Test, Wilcox,Test, Wilcoxon Rank,Tests, Rank-Sum,U Test, Mann-Whitney
D035002	Lower Extremity	The region of the lower limb in animals, extending from the gluteal region to the FOOT, and including the BUTTOCKS; HIP; and LEG.	Extremity, Lower,Lower Limb,Membrum inferius,Extremities, Lower,Limb, Lower,Limbs, Lower,Lower Extremities,Lower Limbs