Occupational Health Hazards of Working in the Interventional Laboratory

Abstract

Musculoskeletal pain is more common among healthcare workers who participate in interventional procedures and is highest in nonphysician employees. The diagnosis of cancer in employees who participate in procedures that utilize radiation was not elevated when compared to controls within the same departments, although any conclusion regarding causality is limited by the cross-sectional nature of the study, as well as the low overall prevalence of malignancy in our study group.

Anti-X Apron Wearing and Musculoskeletal Problems Among Healthcare Workers: A Systematic Scoping Review

“…As shown in the flow diagram reported in Figure 1 , a total of 2337 articles were retrieved. Of these, twelve studies [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ] were finally included. All studies had a cross-sectional design.…”

“…Another aspect to consider in the overall quality assessment is the presence of a control group: only four studies used a control group [ 9 , 10 , 17 , 18 ] and, in one case, the subjects performed their activities with and without wearing aprons.…”

The Economic Imperatives Underlying the Occupational Health Hazards of the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory

“…One important observation is that physicians have the highest prevalence of injuries and other adverse health effects, placing the likelihood of developing an illness in context. This is important in the interpretation of Orme et al, 5 who evaluated workers in a single, multisite institution center, in that the number of physicians exposed in Andreassi et al 8 was substantially higher (47% versus 15%). Another distinction from previous surveys 1,2 also evaluating a multicenter population is that Andreassi et al 8 includes a control group.…”

“…[9][10][11] There are distinct and definite risks inherent in our profession. During one's career, the likelihood of suffering an orthopedic injury is 30% to 60%, cancer 3%, skin disease 8%, hypertension or hypercholesterolemia 12%, and cataracts 5%, 1,5,8 which are 2 to 7 times higher than other medical occupations. Some risks are stochastic and others are deterministic, and there may well be individual variability in susceptibility.…”

“…3,4 Long hours wearing protective shielding has clearly been associated with orthopedic injuries, resulting in lost time from work, and which sometimes are career ending. 1,2,5 An increase in the prevalence of depression, anxiety, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia has also been described. 5,6 Additional possible side effects of radiation exposure include increased carotid intima-media thickness and shortening of the leukocyte telomere length, suggestive of early and aggressive vascular injury.…”