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CardioVascular and Interventional Radiology

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Open Access 01-08-2017 | Review

Radiation-Induced Skin Injuries to Patients: What the Interventional Radiologist Needs to Know

Authors: Werner Jaschke, Matthias Schmuth, Annalisa Trianni, Gabriel Bartal

Published in: CardioVascular and Interventional Radiology | Issue 8/2017

Abstract

For a long time, radiation-induced skin injuries were only encountered in patients undergoing radiation therapy. In diagnostic radiology, radiation exposures of patients causing skin injuries were extremely rare. The introduction of fast multislice CT scanners and fluoroscopically guided interventions (FGI) changed the situation. Both methods carry the risk of excessive high doses to the skin of patients resulting in skin injuries. In the early nineties, several reports of epilation and skin injuries following CT brain perfusion studies were published. During the same time, several papers reported skin injuries following FGI, especially after percutaneous coronary interventions and neuroembolisations. Thus, CT and FGI are of major concern regarding radiation safety since both methods can apply doses to patients exceeding 5 Gy (National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements threshold for substantial radiation dose level). This paper reviews the problem of skin injuries observed after FGI. Also, some practical advices are given how to effectively avoid skin injuries. In addition, guidelines are discussed how to deal with patients who were exposed to a potentially dangerous radiation skin dose during medically justified interventional procedures.

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Title: Radiation-Induced Skin Injuries to Patients: What the Interventional Radiologist Needs to Know
Authors: Werner Jaschke
Matthias Schmuth
Annalisa Trianni
Gabriel Bartal
Publication date: 01-08-2017
Publisher: Springer US
Published in: CardioVascular and Interventional Radiology / Issue 8/2017
Print ISSN: 0174-1551
Electronic ISSN: 1432-086X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00270-017-1674-5

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