In plain language
This 1998 American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) task group report advises hospitals to credential and train physicians who use fluoroscopy, monitor patient doses and fluoroscopy times through quality programs, and teach time, distance and shielding to reduce exposure for the fluoroscopy team and patients.
At a glance
- Type of study
- Guideline or consensus statement
- Who was studied
- Other physicians, Radiologic technologists, Medical physicists and radiation safety officers, Nurses, Patients
- Where
- United States
- Topics
- Training and educationRegulation and policyDosimetry and monitoringPatient dosePersonal protective equipmentDose reduction techniquesSafety culture and compliance
- Summary based on
- a web page
What it found
Non-radiologist specialists using fluoroscopy often lack radiation safety training, creating potential for excessive exposure to personnel and patients.
Recommends mandatory credentialing of physicians using fluoroscopy, with demonstrated competency via exam or continuing medical education (CME) and annual refresher training.
Key figures: annual refresher
Scatter to unshielded personnel at one foot from the patient is roughly 1/100 of patient skin exposure.
Key figures: 1/100
Distance and shielding: one step back cuts exposure rate about fourfold; 0.5 mm lead aprons attenuate scatter by about 20-fold.
Key figures: factor of 4; factor of 20
Proposes a Plan-Do-Check-Act quality management program logging fluoroscopy times by procedure and physician, with quarterly analysis, involving physicists, fluoroscopists, nurses and technologists.
Limits to keep in mind
Expert task-group guidance from 1998 without original data; some dose figures are rules of thumb and contain apparent unit typos, and equipment and dose limits are now dated. Source text was truncated.
Related research summaries
- AST Standards for Ionizing Radiation Exposure (Guideline or consensus statement)
- ICRP Draft - Radiological Protection in Fluoroscopically Guided Procedures (Guideline or consensus statement)
- AAPM Medical Physics Practice Guideline 12.a - Fluoroscopy Dose Management (2022, Guideline or consensus statement)
- Occupational Protection in Interventional Radiology. A Joint Guideline of the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe and the Society of Interventional Radiology (2026, Guideline or consensus statement)
- Radiation protection practices in diagnostic and interventional cardiology: Position paper from Portuguese Association of Interventional Cardiology (2025, Guideline or consensus statement)
How this summary was made
ORSIF prepared this summary with AI assistance from a web page of the paper. A program then checked that the passage supporting each finding appears word for word in that source. A person has not yet reviewed each summary, so read the original before relying on a number. ORSIF summarizes research and does not endorse any product or company. Report a problem with this summary.
Prepared November 3, 2026.