Learning objectives
This exhibit has been developed to show the method used to promote the safe and effective administration of intravascular media used for CT/MR studies, and its diffusion.
Background
Alliance Medical (AM) is a provider of managed imaging services, performing over 6900 contrast scans per annum and provides facilities to over 51 hospitals and clinics across the public and private sector.Our contrast media safety policy provides standards and guidelines that affect how a radiographer/nurse handles and administers contrast medium. All radiographers and nurses employed by Alliance Medical are subject to continuous support and professional development.Primary care physicians may not be well-versed on contrast agent use and dosing. Consequently, our safety policy also supplies guidelines,...
Imaging findings OR Procedure details
Our strategies in contrast media safety have been developed as follow (resumed in Figure 1):---------------------------------- INTERNAL POLICY ---A. Preprocedural: PMC:In the Patient Management Centre (PMC) all the patient information and requests for the examinations are digitalised and integrated in the electronic patient history to process all referrals from the point of receipt, through clinical triage.Our experience with patients who have undergone diagnostic imaging request at outside institutions indicate that this type of data recording is intrinsically fraught with inaccuracies; hence, the importance of establishing a...
Conclusion
1. -Patient safety could be improved by identifying best practice and standardizing the policies and procedures around contrast media administration2. - Encouraging consistent educational efforts aimed at helping referrals to follow contrast media safety policies, reporting requirements and guidelines.3. -The PMC guidelines improved efficiency by providing valuable information to radiologists, technologists, and nurses well in advance of a patient's procedure. This helps identify patients with a history of risk factors for contrast media and plan accordingly. This reduces the need for cancellations and delays, and...
Personal Information
S. García-Asensio, M.C Pascual, A. Cruces, O. Brihuega. Department of Radiology. Alliance Medical SpainMail to:
[email protected]
References
1.Prophylaxis of contrast material-induced nephropathy in patients in intensive care: Acetylcysteine, theophylline, or both? A randomized study. Huber W, Eckel F, Henning M et al. Radiology 2006; 239:793-804. 2 . Pharmacokinetics of gadodiamide injection in patients with severe renal insufficiency and patients undergoing hemodialysis or continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Joffe P, Thomsen HS, Meusel M.Acad Radiol 1998; 5 (7):491-502. 3. ESUR Guidelines on Contrast Media Version 7.0. 4. ACR practice guideline for the use of intravascular contrat media. ACR Practice Guideline Revised 2007 (Res 38)...
