Radiation Safety during Interventional Procedures:

Abstract

In interventional cardiology revascularization procedures are on the increase and as such the x-ray radiation dose, used per procedure. The recent introduction of new technologies, e.g. the drug eluting stent, has led to a treatment shift. An increasing number of patients with multi-vessel disease, smaller coronary arteries and diabetes, who previously underwent surgery, now undergo a percutaneous coronary intervention. The worldwide increase in percutaneous coronary interventions is described in Chapter 1. While a coronary intervention can be lifesaving, there is no limit to either the investigation or the radiation time. Therefore this result in an increase in the x-ray radiation dose to the patient, and a higher scattered radiation dose to the operator. Thus increasing both the possibility of skin damage to the patient and consequences to the operator.