Collar Badge Lens Dose Equivalent Values among United States Physicians Performing Fluoroscopically Guided Interventional Procedures

PurposeTo describe the range of occupational badge dose readings and annualized dose records among physicians performing fluoroscopically guided interventional (FGI) procedures using job title information provided by the same 3 major medical institutions in 2009, 2012, and 2015.Materials and MethodsThe Radiation Safety Office of selected hospitals was contacted to request assistance with identifying physicians in a large commercial dosimetry database. All entries judged to be uninformative of occupational doses to FGI procedure staff were excluded. Monthly and annualized doses were described with univariate statistics and box-and-whisker plots.ResultsThe dosimetry data set of interventional radiology staff contained 169 annual dose records from 77 different physicians and 698 annual dose records from 455 nonphysicians. The median annualized lens dose equivalent values among physicians (11.9 mSv; interquartile range [IQR], 6.9–20.0 mSv) was nearly 3-fold higher than those among nonphysician medical staff assisting with FGI procedures (4.0 mSv; IQR, 1.8–6.7 mSv) (P < .001). During the study period, without eye protection, 25% (23 of 93) of the physician annualized lens dose equivalent values may have exceeded 20 mSv; for nonphysician medical staff, this value may have been exceeded 3.5% (6 of 173) of the time. However, these values did not account for eye protection.ConclusionsThe findings from this study highlight the importance of mitigating occupational dose to the eyes of medical staff, particularly physicians, performing or assisting with FGI procedures. Training on radiation protection principles, the use of personal protective equipment, and patient radiation dose management can all help ensure that the occupational radiation dose is adequately controlled.     

Significant reduction of postoperative pain and opioid analgesics requirement with an Enhanced Recovery After Thoracic Surgery protocol

ObjectiveTo evaluate differences in postoperative pain control and opioids requirement in thoracic surgical patients following implementation of an Enhanced Recovery after Thoracic Surgery protocol with a comprehensive postoperative pain management strategy.Material and MethodsA retrospective analysis of a prospectively maintained database of patients undergoing pulmonary resections by robotic thoracoscopy or thoracotomy from January 1, 2017, to January 31, 2019, was conducted. Multimodal pain management strategy (opioid-sparing analgesics, infiltration of liposomal bupivacaine to intercostal spaces and surgical sites, and elimination of thoracic epidural analgesia use in thoracotomy patients) was implemented as part of Enhanced Recovery after Thoracic Surgery on February 1, 2018. Outcome metrics including patient-reported pain levels, in-hospital and postdischarge opioids use, postoperative complications, and length of stay were compared before and after protocol implementation.ResultsIn total, 310 robotic thoracoscopy and 62 thoracotomy patients met the inclusion criteria. This pain management strategy was associated with significant reduction of postoperative pain in both groups with an overall reduction of postoperative opioids requirement. Median in-hospital opioids use (morphine milligram equivalent per day) was reduced from 30 to 18.36 (P = .009) for the robotic thoracoscopy group and slightly increased from 15.48 to 21.0 (P = .27) in the thoracotomy group. More importantly, median postdischarge opioids prescribed (total morphine milligram equivalent) was significantly reduced from 480.0 to 150.0 (P < .001) and 887.5 to 150.0 (P < .001) for the thoracoscopy and thoracotomy groups, respectively. Similar short-term perioperative outcomes were observed in both groups before and following protocol implementation.ConclusionsImplementation of Enhanced Recovery after Thoracic Surgery allows safe elimination of epidural use, better pain control, and less postoperative opioids use, especially a drastic reduction of postdischarge opioid need, without adversely affecting outcomes.     

北方社区中老年人群血浆中同型半胱氨酸水平与视网膜血管直径的相关性研究

目的　探讨中老年人血浆中同型半胱氨酸（homocysteine，Hcy）水平与视网膜血管直径之间的关系。方法　本研究为横断面研究，研究人群为开滦研究中参加2012-2013年健康体检人群（年龄≥40岁），其中行眼底彩照者3447人，应用软件分析视网膜血管直径。最终纳入统计分析共3401人，分析血浆中Hcy水平对视网膜中央动脉直径（central retinal artery equivalent，CRAE）、视网膜中央静脉直径（central retinal vein equivalent，CRVE）和动静脉比（arteriovenous ratio，AVR）的影响。将基线Hcy水平四分位分组，用 Logistic 回归分析不同Hcy水平分组对AVR的影响。结果　本研究共入选3401人，其中男1910人、女1491人，年龄（56.81±10.17）岁，Hcy为0.09~70.60（15.27±9.11）mmol·L^-1，其中CRAE为（174.29±24.59）μm，CRVE为（281.74±28.66）μm，AVR 为0.62±0.11。Hcy四分位数分别为9.50 mmol·L^-1、13.30 mmol·L^-1和18.20 mmol·L^-1。Spearman相关分析显示，血浆中Hcy水平与CRAE呈负相关（r=-0.125，P<0.001），与CRVE呈负相关（r=-0.093，P<0.001），Hcy与AVR呈负相关（r=-0.050，P=0.004）。将Hcy分别和CRAE、CRVE和AVR进行多因素线性回归分析显示，Hcy是CRAE（β=-0.147）、CRVE（β=-0.120）的影响因素（均为P<0.05）。Logistic回归分析不同Hcy分位值对AVR的影响发现，其不是AVR的危险因素。性别分层后进一步行多因素线性回归分析发现，男性血浆中Hcy水平与CRAE（β=-0.132）、CRVE（β=-0.136）均有相关性（均为P<0.05）。结论　CRAE和CRVE均随着血浆中Hcy水平的增加而变窄，而这种现象似乎只发生在男性人群中。     

Pediatric Lisfranc variants and equivalent injuries: A review

IntroductionPediatric Lisfranc injuries are rare and a limited number of series or case reports have been published. Diagnosis can be easily missed and long-term outcome is not sufficiently presented. The primary aim of this paper is to review the literature about pediatric Lisfranc variants and equivalent injuries. This article also provides a review on Lisfranc joint anatomy, pediatric Lisfranc injuries, and stress or acute fractures involving the first and central (second to third) metatarsal (MT) bases, in an effort to detect potential pediatric Lisfranc variants and equivalent injuries, which were not accurately diagnosed.MethodsThe bibliographic survey to identify pediatric Lisfranc variants and equivalent injuries was conducted in the PubMed and Scopus databases, with no time limit. Four terms were used for searching in all possible combinations: Pediatric/children, Lisfranc/tarsometatarsal, variant/equivalent, injury/fracture. The only inclusion criterion was the age of the patients, which had to be less than 12 years. Reports on adolescents or adults were excluded.ResultsThe research indicated that there was only one study mentioning the pediatric Lisfranc equivalent injury, while there were no cases recorded as pediatric Lisfranc variants. The literature review regarding the final clinical outcome of both pediatric Lisfranc injuries and fractures, either stress or acute, involving the central MT base, indicated that early degenerative changes often occur, and may be responsible for chronic pain and activity limitation, even after mild and subtle low energy injuries.Discussion/ConclusionsThis review suggests that stress fractures involving the central MT base could be considered as a variant of the Lisfranc injury in children. Care should be taken to exclude occult fractures or ligamentous injuries to the medial and central Lisfranc joint complex in the presence of fractures involving the base or proximal portion of the first MT, including injuries to the physeal plate, to rule out the pediatric Lisfranc equivalent injury.     

分化型甲状腺癌患者口服131I后体内活度变化及剂量水平

目的 研究¹³¹I治疗分化型甲状腺癌（DTC）患者体内放射性活度及外部剂量水平的变化规律，分析二者之间的关系，并估算400 MBq患者剂量当量率的修正因子。方法 研究对象为43例甲状腺全切术后，首次行¹³¹I"清甲"治疗的DTC患者，服药量为1 850~3 700 MBq，平均服药量（2 405±777）MBq。分别于口服¹³¹I后2、6、20、22、24、27、30、44、46、48、54、68及72 h，测定患者的体内剩余放射性活度以及患者前部0.3、1及3 m处的剂量当量率。结果 患者服¹³¹I后的体内剩余放射性活度随时间变化函数为A=A₀（1.033 16e^{-0.062 4t}+0.017 17）。可估算出"清甲"治疗的DTC患者有效半减期为12.19 h，体内放射性活度降至400 MBq仅需26.4~38.9 h。患者服用¹³¹I后距其0.3、1及3 m的标准化剂量当量率随时间变化函数分别为：Ḣ_0.3=127.220 7e^{-0.054 8t}+3.765 71、Ḣ₁=30.225 8e^{-0.064 4t}+0.824 67、Ḣ₃=4.161 9e^{-0.061 5t}+0.167 97。患者服¹³¹I后体内剩余放射性活度与1 m处剂量当量率呈正相关（r=0.982，P<0.05），函数为Ḣ₁=0.025A+1.245。DTC患者体内剩余活度分别为1 000、700和400 MBq时，距患者1 m处对应的剂量当量率分为26.2、18.7和11.2 μSv/h。估算活度为400 MBq的患者0.3、1及3 m处剂量当量率的修正因子分别为0.25、0.49及0.70。结论 服用¹³¹I活度在3 700 MBq以下的DTC患者仅需住院2日便可达到出院标准。当DTC患者体内活度降至400 MBq时，其1 m处的剂量当量率远小于25 μSv/h。单纯利用点源公式估算患者周围剂量当量率会造成高估的情况，因此对于公式估算患者周围辐射水平时使用的修正因子还需进一步研究，使模型估算结果更贴合实际情况。