Detection of Orthopaedic Implants by Airport Metal Detectors

Obremskey, William T.; Austin, T. Howard; Crosby, C.; Driver, R. E.; Kurtz, Will; Shuler, Franklin D.; Kregor, Philip J.

doi:10.1097/bot.0b013e31803071da

Cited by 25 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…We do, however, offer a ''real world'' report of the experience of these 90 children and adolescents, thus providing information to surgeons and patients about a commonly asked question, for which very limited data exists. Post-9/11 reports in the arthroplasty [4,[6][7][8][9][10] and trauma [8][9][10] literature have indicated triggering rates ranging from 32 to 84 % that is affected by metal composition and total implant mass. The only recent report of spinal instrumentation evaluated several types of titaniumonly implants in 40 patients and noted no metal detector triggering in a British cohort [5].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to heightened security measures, previous studies have indicated that both metallurgy [9,10] and implant mass [2,4,6,8,10] also affect detector activation. To date, however, nearly all of these reports have been in adult patients with trauma instrumentation (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This has led to several reports in the orthopaedic literature discussing the implication of these heightened security measures on orthopaedic patients. While pre-9/11 series have shown that orthopaedic implants infrequently triggered metal detectors [1][2][3], many post-9/11 reports of increased screening procedures on travellers with orthopaedic instrumentation are available and have indicated increased detection frequency (of up to 88 %) and burden of security checkpoint stress on patients with orthopaedic implants [4][5][6][7][8][9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Airport metal detector activation is rare after posterior spinal fusion in children with scoliosis

Fabricant

Robles

Blanco

2013

Journal of Children's Orthopaedics

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Purpose Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, travel security has become an ever-increasing priority in the United States. Frequent parent and patient inquiry and recent literature reports have generated interest in the impact of heightened security measures on patients with orthopaedic implants, and have indicated increasing rates of metal detector triggering. There are no reports to date, however, evaluating children and adolescents who have undergone posterior spinal fusion for scoliosis, so responses to patient and parent inquiries are not data-driven. The purpose of this study is to determine the frequency of airport metal detector triggering by patients who have had posterior-only spinal fusion and to characterise any potential predictors of metal detector activation. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed by interviewing 90 patients who underwent posterior-only spinal fusion for a diagnosis of juvenile or adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and have travelled by air in the past year. Demographic, clinical and surgical instrumentation data were collected and evaluated, along with patients' reports of airport metal detector triggering and subsequent screening procedures. Results Five patients with stainless steel instrumentation (5.6 % of the cohort) triggered an airport walkthrough metal detector, and an additional five patients who did not trigger an airport detector triggered a handheld detector at a different venue. All patients who triggered an airport metal detector had stainless steel instrumentation implanted prior to 2008, and no patient with titanium instrumentation triggered any detector in any venue. All trigger events required subsequent screening procedures, even when an implant card was presented. Conclusions In this cohort of children and adolescents with posterior spinal instrumentation, airport walkthrough metal detector triggering was a rare event. Therefore, we advise patients and families with planned posterior scoliosis fusions using titanium instrumentation that airport detection risk is essentially non-existent, and only rare for those with planned stainless steel instrumentation. We no longer issue implant cards postoperatively, as these did not prevent further screening procedures in this cohort. Level of evidence Prognostic level 2. Study design: crosssectional.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Airport metal detector activation is rare after posterior spinal fusion in children with scoliosis

Fabricant

Robles

Blanco

2013

Journal of Children's Orthopaedics

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“…A previous study showed that larger plates with more than 10 holes, used in orthopaedic surgery, may be more detectable. 8 Breast implants incorporating metallic components to allow for expansion are in common use. Neither of the two commonly used expanders in our unit activated the arch metal detector, nor were they detected by the wand when placed under the arm.…”

Section: Wand Detectormentioning

confidence: 99%

“…1 The amplitude of the electrical current in the receiver coil should be greater in ferromagnetic metals with a high iron content than in electrically conducting diamagnetic metals such as copper, aluminium, titanium, gold or silver. 8 The newer implants are frequently highly refined alloys such as titanium, cobalt-chromiummolybdenum and stainless steel. As such, they tend to have low iron content 9 and are therefore less likely to be detected.…”

Section: Wand Detectormentioning

confidence: 99%

Prosthetic metal implants and airport metal detectors

Ismail

Dancey

Titley

2013

annals

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Introduction Metal detectors have been present in airports and points of departure for some time. With the introduction of heightened security measures in response to fears of an increased threat of terrorism, they may become more prevalent in other public locations. The aim of this study was to ascertain which prosthetic devices activated metal detector devices used for security purposes. Methods A range of prosthetic devices used commonly in orthopaedic and plastic surgery procedures were passed through an arch metal detector at Birmingham Airport in the UK. Additionally, each item was passed under a wand detector. Items tested included expandable breast prostheses, plates used in wrist and hand surgery, screws, K-wires, Autosuture™ ligation clips and staples. Results No prostheses were detected by the arch detector. The expandable implants and wrist plates were the only devices detected by passing the wand directly over them. No device was detected by the wand when it was under cover of the axillary soft tissue. Screws, K-wires, Autosuture™ clips and staples were not detected under any of the study conditions. Conclusions Although unlikely to trigger a detector, it is possible that an expandable breast prosthesis or larger plate may do so. It is therefore best to warn patients of this so they can anticipate detection and further examination.

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