Occupational Hazards in Fluoroscopy-Guided Interventions

Fluoroscopy-guided procedures have transformed how interventionalists diagnose and treat vascular and cardiac conditions. While these advancements offer clear benefits to patients, they also introduce serious occupational risks for physicians and operating room staff. These include prolonged exposure to ionizing radiation, physical strain from wearing heavy lead aprons, and an increased risk of mental health challenges such as stress, anxiety, and burnout.

The statistics below shed light on these ongoing concerns and underscore the need for improved safety measures to protect those who deliver this critical care.

Interventionalists using fluoroscopy to treat patients are exposed to numerous workplace hazards including: 

• Exposure to ionizing radiation
• Stress on the musculoskeletal system 
• Depression and anxiety 

Ionizing Radiation

By reducing reliance on traditional fluoroscopic imaging – IOPS, the Intra-Operative Positioning System from Centerline Biomedical, offers hospitals and clinicians an option to mitigate the risk of radiation exposure to hospital staff. Designed to reduce the amount of radiation used during interventions, IOPS is on the cutting edge of clinician radiation safety. 

1 Andreassi MG, Cioppa A, Botto N, Joksic G, Manfredi S, Federici C, Ostojic M, Rubino P, Picano E. Somatic DNA damage in interventional cardiologists: a case-control study. FASEB J. 2005 Jun;19(8):998-9. doi: 10.1096/fj.04-3287fje. Epub 2005 Mar 31. PMID: 15802491.

2 Ionizing radiation and health effects: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ionizing-radiation-and-health-effects

Musculoskeletal System Stress

In a recent survey, over 60% of responding SCAI (Society for Cardiovascular Angiography & Interventions) members reported musculoskeletal pain attributed to wearing lead ³.

“This is an issue of workplace safety and, frankly, liability for every hospital in America. If this were Ford or GM, they would shut you down if you had even half that incidence [of] spinal illness, 30%. There is no profession in America that allows that. So the fact that it’s 60% is even wilder.” said Dean Kereiakes, MD, president of The Christ Hospital Heart and Vascular Institute in a recent interview with Cardiovascular Business.

Read the full article: Cardiologist became paralyzed after wearing heavy aprons in the cath lab for decades—but he fought back

Depression and Anxiety

According to the American Heart Association, workers performing fluoroscopically guided procedures experience up to 6 times greater risk of developing anxiety/depression ⁴. A systematic review found that clinicians experiencing depression and anxiety report more frequent errors in patient care and greater professional burnout compared to their unaffected peers ⁵.