Does Surgical Experience Decrease Radiation Exposure in the Operating Room?

Background: Intraoperative fluoroscopy facilitates minimally invasive surgery, and although it is irreplaceable in terms of intraoperative guidance, it results in substantial radiation exposure to the patient and surgical team. Although the risk of radiation exposure because of equipment factors has been described, there is little known about the impact of surgeon experience on radiation exposure. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a relationship between years of surgical experience and total dose of radiation used for an archetypal pediatric orthopaedic surgical procedure that requires intraoperative fluoroscopy. Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study of children undergoing closed reduction and percutaneous pinning for supracondylar humerus fractures at a level I pediatric trauma center. Information pertaining to radiation dosage was gathered including fluoroscopic time, total images acquired, magnification use, and dose area product (DAP). Regression analysis was used to evaluate the effect of surgeon experience on the outcome variables. Results: A total of 759 pediatric patients treated by 17 attending surgeons were included. The median surgeon experience was 8.94 years (interquartile range, 5.9 to 19.8). Increased number of pins was associated with increased DAP (P
Source: Journal of Pediatric Orthopaedics - Category: Orthopaedics Tags: Selected Topics Source Type: research