Skin injuries caused by fluoroscopically guided interventional procedures: case-based review and self-assessment module.

Abstract

Fluoroscopically guided interventional procedures are performed in cardiology, and complex interventions are performed in cerebral as well as peripheral circulation. These procedures sometimes deliver a high radiation dose to the patient's skin and can cause serious skin injuries. Interventionalists are often unaware of the high radiation doses to which a patient's skin may be subjected. Most are unaware that such injuries can occur even with the use of modern equipment. Therefore, they and other physicians, including dermatologists, often do not recognize such skin injuries as being related to an interventional procedure.