Coaching can halve radiation dose for pain physicians

(HealthDay)—Knowledge of and real-time coaching on scatter dose profiles can reduce the radiation dose received by physicians performing pain treatment procedures, according to a study published in the June issue of Pain Practice.

A.S. Slegers, from the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Dordrecht, Netherlands, and colleagues examined whether real-time radiation dose feedback with coaching can impact the scatter dose received by pain physicians. A scatter dose profile was created using phantom measurements. The radiation dose received by physicians during pain treatment procedures was measured in the clinical part of the study, which included 330 interventional pain procedures.

The researchers observed no reduction in scatter radiation as a result of real-time feedback of the received dose. The scatter radiation received by pain physicians was reduced by visualization of the scatter dose in a scatter dose profile, and active coaching on optimal positions (46.4 percent reduction; P = 0.05).

"Knowledge of and real-time coaching with the scatter dose profile reduced the dose of pain physicians by half, caused by their increased awareness for scatter radiation and their insight into strategic positioning," the authors write.