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I N T R A O P
I M A G I N G
the setting whenever possible.
Activate the C-arm only when actually looking at the fluoro image, and
use intermittent fluoro — pulses of
radiation — rather than continuous
radiation.
Employ tight collimation, coning
down the beams to the targeted area.
"This improves your view and reduces
staff radiation exposure," says Dr.
Giordano. It also reduces the patient's
total skin exposure, points out Ms.
Cappella. Use the "last image hold"
feature — which stops the fluoro, letting you study the last captured image
on the split-screen monitor — to further reduce radiation exposure risk
for everyone in the OR. OSM
Ms. Guterl (g ailg uterl@verizon.net), a
freelance writer based in West Chester,
Pa., is the former editor of Advance for
Nurses.
On the Web
AORN offers a checklist (tinyurl.com/nb4648o)
for limiting C-arm risks: "Perioperative RN
Performance Evaluation Tool for Reducing
Radiological Exposure"
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O U T PAT I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E | A U G U S T 2013
