Preventing Harm From Fluoroscopically Guided Interventional Procedures With a Risk-Based Analysis Approach.

Purpose: Fluoroscopically guided interventional (FGI) procedures often have lower complication rates compared with alternative surgical procedures, providing an option for patients with a high risk of perioperative mortality. Although severe radiation injuries are rare, patients receiving peak skin doses exceeding 3 Gy can suffer from radiation-induced tissue injuries, ranging from transient erythema to nonhealing wounds. As these iatrogenic injuries may manifest weeks to months postprocedure, proper diagnosis and timely medical intervention are less likely.

Nuclear/radiological terrorism: emergency department management of radiation casualties.

Recent world events have increased concern that hospitals must be prepared for radiological emergencies. Emergency departments (EDs) must be ready to treat patients suffering from injuries in combination with radiation exposure or contamination with radioactive material. Every hospital should have a Radiological Emergency Medical Response Plan, tested through periodic drills, which will allow effective handling of contaminated and injured patients.

A reassessment of radioactive material security in health care and biomedical research.

The medical facilities of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) use radioactive material for health care and biomedical research.