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VIDEO: Attention on workplace hazards for interventionalists may lead to change in practice
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — In this video, Gary M. Ansel, MD, interventional cardiologist at OhioHealth Heart and Vascular Physicians, discusses the occupational hazards faced by interventionalists in the workplace.
Citing radiation as the first main concern, Ansel told Cardiology Today’s Intervention that there “really is no safe level” of radiation. “We need to go back to the basics and remove many of our risks from radiation.”
Another leading risk among operators of interventional procedures is orthopedic injury. With growing numbers of injuries of the cervical and lumbar spine, body posture plays a large role in the stress put on the spine, he said.
Ansel also reviewed research which showed that the incidence of cataracts is increased among interventionalists.
These risks were the focus of a session at the International Symposium on Endovascular Therapy. More attention to occupational hazards may lead to a change in practice, he said. Robotic involvement for interventional procedures is one example that could be used to alleviate some of these risks, he said.