Radiation Exposure Affecting Anaesthesia Personnel During Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancreatography

Radiation now becomes a dreadful effect as its outcomes are tremendous to be expected. As a result, anesthetists become an inevitable target to the radiation exposure since they have to monitor patients closely during the operation. Unfortunately, radiation may not have an immediate sequelae, but an accumulation of adverse effects.

These sequelae happen by means of direct exposure and reflection. The reflected rays is inversely proportional to the distance between the origin and the target. Practically, the radiation source can be protected by individual cover and glass shield.

Siriraj hospital is a tertiary, general university hospital with 2,200 beds. Annually, an Endoscopy centre has over 700 patients undergoing endoscopic retrograde cholangio pancreaticography (ERCP). Normally, fluoroscopy for pancreatic and biliary ducts visualisation is needed under anesthesia. Though the procedure is operated in a well-equipped, radiating-protection room; many medical personnel including 1-2 endoscopists, 2 scrub nurses, 1-2 anesthetists and 1 x-ray man, still have a chance of irradiation.

During ERCP, all medical personnel particularly anesthetists are rinsed by radiation from here and there. Though they always wear lead aprons and collar shields to protect themselves from the rays, they are normally in the position - less than 1 meter - close to the fluoroscopy.

Due to the advancement in technology, anesthetists can remotely monitor patients during the surgical procedure. This might cause a lesser effect of ray upon them. As a result, whether or not the positioning of anesthesia personnel relating to the distance of x-ray source would help to alleviate the effect of radiation exposure.