Continuous Quality Improvement of Radiation Safety Management for Treatment of Differentiated Thyroid Carcinoma with Iodine-131

Abstract

Purpose: To explore the effect of continuous quality improvement (CQI) of radiation safety management for patients administerediodine-131 after thyroid cancer surgery. Methods: A total of 103 patients with differentiated thyroid carcinoma were randomly divided into control and experimental groups containing 51 and 52 patients, respectively. In the control group, the drug was administered according to the operating procedure for iodine-131 treatment of thyroid carcinoma. In the experimental group, CQI was adopted to manage the radiation safety of care in addition to the conventional iodine-131 thyroid cancer treatment procedures. We also improved radiation safety protection measures prior to drug administration, developed a flow chart of drug administration for patients, established a patient preview of the drug administration process, and enhanced health education and psychological intervention for the patient. Results: The environmental radiation around the drug delivery window was reduced (P< 0.05), total duration of exposure to the radiation was shortened (P< 0.05), drug drop rate was decreased to 0%, and patient satisfaction was improved in the experimental group compared to the control group. Conclusions: Application of CQI for management of radiation safety when treating thyroid cancer withiodine-131 can improve patient treatment, quality of care, and satisfaction and reduce radiation pollution in the surrounding environment and radiation injury to staff.