The objective of this study was to evaluate radiation exposure levels in conjunction with operator dose implemented, patient vascular characteristics, and other technical angiographic parameters. In total, 756 radial coronary angioplasties were evaluated in a major metropolitan general hospital in Tabriz, Iran. The classification of coronary lesions was based on the ACC/AHA system. One interventional cardiologist performed all of the procedures using a single angiography unit. The mean kerma-area product and mean cumulative dose for all cases was 5081 μGy m2 and 814.44 mGy, respectively. Average times of 26.16 and 9.1 min were recorded for the overall procedure and fluoroscopy, respectively. A strong correlation was demonstrated between types of lesions, number of stents and vessels treated in relation to physician radiation exposure. It was determined that operator radiation exposure levels for percutaneous coronary interventions lesions (complex) were higher than that of simple and moderate lesions. In addition, operator radiation exposure levels increased with the treatment of more coronary vessels and implementation of additional stents.
Objective
To investigate the role of heated irrigation fluids in the risk of hypothermia and related complications in patients undergoing transurethral procedures.
Methods
The medical records of all patients who underwent transurethral procedures between 2000 and 2016 at the VA Hospital were reviewed. Irrigation fluids have been heated to 42°C since 2013, as per the institutional policy (Group II). Prior to this date, room temperature solutions were used (Group I). The perioperative body temperature, use of warming devices, procedure length, and anaesthesia type were extracted from records and compared for both groups. In addition, demographic and anthropometric data, preoperative comorbidities, laboratory data, admission information and postoperative complications were obtained from the quality improvement database.
Results
There were 1,363 patients in Group I and 269 patients in Group II. Perioperative temperature was decreased by 0.10°C in Group I compared to a temperature gain of 0.32°C in Group II (p<0.001). Three hundred and forty-eight (21%) patients undergoing transurethral procedures developed hypothermia <36°C. There was no difference in the incidence of postoperative mortality or complications between the normothermic and hypothermic patients.
Conclusion
The replacement of room temperature solutions with warmed solutions for irrigation during transurethral procedures reduced the risk of temperature loss and hypothermia following these procedures. Available heating strategies effectively prevented the perioperative heat loss; however, such strategies did not affect the incidence of postoperative complications.
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