A comparison of radiation exposure with the conventional versus mini C arm in orthopedic extremity surgery.

Abstract

The mini C arm is a mobile fluoroscopic device for use on extremities. It has been reported that this type of device has several advantages over a conventional C arm, the most important of which is a decreased level of radiation scatter to the surgeon. This was a case control study. The radiation dose to the surgeon was calculated from the radiation exposure time and distance from the x-ray emitter. Cases using the mini C arm were compared with operation-matched controls that had the identical procedure performed with a conventional C arm. The mini C arm caused statistically less radiation scatter to the surgeon, but there was no statistically significant difference in the radiation exposure to the patient. This was despite a significantly larger number of exposures with the mini C arm for each operation type. The mini C arm should be used in preference to the conventional C arm for extremity surgery, if both are available.