Radiation Exposure to the Surgeon, Surgical Assistant, and Scrub Nurse During Closed Intramedullary Nailing of Long Bones-Does It Vary Depending on the Experience of the Surgeon?

OBJECTIVES: To assess radiation exposure (RE) to the surgical team and fluoroscopy time (FT) during closed nailing of long bone fractures performed under fluoroscopic guidance with regard to surgeon's experience.

DESIGN: Prospective observational study.

SETTING: Level-1 trauma center.

PARTICIPANTS: Surgical team, comprising a surgeon, a surgical assistant, and a scrub nurse, for closed nailing procedures performed in 202 consecutive closed tibial and femoral diaphyseal fractures.

INTERVENTION: Dosimeter provided to each member of surgical team. Surgeon experience level (trainee, senior registrar, and consultant).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASUREMENTS: RE (microsieverts) to the surgical team and FT (minutes) were recorded from the dosimeter and fluoroscopic unit, respectively, and correlated with surgeon's experience.

RESULTS: In tibial nailing, mean RE (in µSv) per procedure to surgeon, surgical assistant, and scrub nurse was 15.2, 9.2, and 2.0 for trainees, 14.5, 8.1, and 1.6 for senior registrars, and 13.6, 7.4, and 1.5 for consultants, respectively. In femoral nailing, mean RE per procedure to surgeon, surgical assistant, and scrub nurse was 181.6, 113.6, and 37.1 for trainees, 110.1, 66.7, and 20.4 for senior registrars, and 79.9, 30.9, and 12.5 for consultants, respectively. RE to the surgeon was highest followed by surgical assistant and scrub nurse irrespective of operating surgeon's experience in both tibial and femoral nailing (P < 0.001). In tibial nailing, there was a significant difference in FT only for the stage of guide wire passage (P = 0.041), whereas in femoral nailing, total FT (P < 0.001), nail entry verification (P = 0.02), guide wire passage (P = 0.013), nail introduction (P = 0.006), and distal locking (P < 0.001) showed a significant difference.

CONCLUSIONS: RE was maximum for operating surgeon and least for scrub nurse irrespective of operating surgeon's experience in both femoral and tibial nailing. FT and RE to the surgical team decreased with increasing experience of the surgeon in femoral nailing.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level II. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.