7 things to know about radiation exposure during scoliosis surgery

A new prospective study on radiation exposure during spine surgery for scoliosis correction shows exposure is within the recommended safe limits. The study is published in The Spine Journal.

Study authors examined exposure with an electronic dosimeter attached over the thyroid guard and thermoluminescent dosimeter ring on both of the surgeon's hands. Patient monitoring used a dose area product measurement tool and calculations were done with the Monte Carlo

Calculation.

The researchers found:

1. Average eye dose per procedures for one of the surgeons was 0.8 μSv. The other surgeon reported an average of 1.3 μSv.

2. The first surgeon reported an average thyroid does of 1.4 μSv while the second surgeon reported a does of 1.2 μSv.

3. Doses recorded for the surgeon on the same side of the patient as the X-ray tube were significantly higher than the surgeon on the far side of the X-ray.

4. The average dose area product per procedure was 91.2 cGycm2.

5. The average radiation dose for the patient was 252.9 μSv.

6. There was an increased cancer risk for patients about 0.001 percent. For surgeons, the risk of cancer went up 0.0005 percent for each year of exposure.

7. The researchers concluded that "both surgeons received total radiation dose less than 1 percent of the recommended dose limit per year and therefore the total radiation exposure by both surgeons and patients was well within the recommended safe limits."



Source: Beckers Spine Review, 8th Jan 2015