Radiation protection effect of mobile shield barrier for the medical personnel during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography: a quasi-experimental prospective study

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effectiveness of radiation protection offered by a newly designed mobile shield barrier for medical personnel during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). DESIGN: Quasi-experimental prospective study. SETTING: ERCP procedures conducted between October 2016 and June 2017 at a single secondary referral hospital that performs approximately 250 therapeutic ERCP procedures annually. INTERVENTIONS: The mobile shield barrier was a custom-made 2 mm Pb shielding plate (width: 120 cm, height: 190 cm) with a 0.5 mm Pb window (width: 115 cm, height: 60 cm) on its upper part was used. Four wheels were attached to the bottom to allow easy moving. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: The radiation doses were measured during ERCP using personal thermoluminescence dosimetry (TLD) badges on both sides of the mobile shield barrier (patient’s side: TLD1 and medical staff’s side: TLD2). The radiation doses were also measured on the outer surface of the thyroid shield of the endoscopist (TLD3), and on the chest area inside the protective apron of the endoscopist (TLD4) and the main assistant (TLD5). The TLD was changed and reported once every 3 months. The radiation dose measured by TLD badges were compared. RESULTS: During the study period, a total of 128 ERCP procedures were performed. The mean fluoroscopy time per procedure was 244.9±257.0 s and the mean number of digital radiographs per procedure was 3.7±1.0. TLD1 (outside the barrier) had a mean radiation dose of 26.85±3.47 mSv and all the other TLDs (inside the barrier) had less than 1 mSv (p<0.001). In the post hoc analysis, the difference between TLD1 and others showed a statistical significance; however, there were no significant differences between the TLDs inside the barrier. CONCLUSION: Our mobile shield barrier was useful to reduce the radiation exposure of medical personnel during ERCP.