Knowledge and practice of radiation protection in the operating theater among orthopedic surgeons

PurposeMany orthopedic procedures, particularly minimally invasive surgeries that require fluoroscopic imaging, present a radiation exposure risk to the orthopedic surgeon. Surgeons may have a higher risk of developing cancer if they receive significant amounts of radiation. Using personal protective equipment (PPE) and appropriate imaging device positioning, plays an important role in reducing the surgeon’s radiation exposure. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the surgeon’s radiation safety awareness and practices. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the practices and radiation protection knowledge of orthopedic surgeons in the operating theater.ApproachA nationwide survey was conducted from October 2021 to January 2022 to evaluate the radiation protection practices and awareness of orthopedic surgeons in Jordan. Normalized practice and knowledge scores were evaluated through the survey and compared between different groups. Descriptive statistics were used to present the surgeon’s practices and radiation protection knowledge. Student’s t-test was used to compare the outcomes between surgeons that received radiation protection training and surgeons who did not. Using ANOVA analysis, we compared the score outcomes for all the other variables.ResultsThe surgeons that received radiation protection training had significantly higher practice score 39.6% compared with 31% for the group that did not have training (p = 0.01). No statistically significant difference in the knowledge scores was found between the two groups. Although 91% of the surgeons reported using some kind of PPE, only 5.5% used a dosimeter badge during surgeries.ConclusionThere is an obvious deficit in radiation safety training of orthopedic surgeons.