Thread by @tobiasgilk

You're invited to join in the recognition of MRI Safety Week from July 27 (the anniversary of the infamous Colombini accident) through to August 2.

#MRIsafety #MRI #Radiology #PatientSafety

(1/11)

Some of you may be thinking, 'hey, isn't MRI the "safe" imaging choice? We're supposed to worry about X-rays and ionizing radiation, and move to MRI when possible, right?'

Well a lot of elements baked into that conventional wisdom have been shifting over time...

(2/11)

Let's start with medical ionizing radiation exposure (predominantly experienced as X-rays). Concern about medical radiation exposure, and resulting technological advancements in imaging equipment, have substantially reduced per-exam patient exposure.

(3/11)

Within the radiation protection community, there has been confusion and fear when recent recommendations for some types of patient shielding were pulled back (they can often be skipped because of the equipment advances).

(4/11)

Ionizing radiation has been the 'bad guy' in radiology for so long the idea that it's much less 'bad' today goes against conventional wisdom, but it's true.

(5/11)

Which brings me to the second part of the argument for MRI Safety Week... that we're doing a worse job protecting MRI patients, today, than we were 10 or 20 years ago.

(6/11)

Thankfully, MRI injury accidents are still quite rare, but they have been trending upward for a long time (based on FDA data). This shows % change in FDA-reported MRI adverse events (red) vs. % change in MRI exams performed.

(7/11)

The most generous interpretation of the above data suggests more than doubling of growth in adverse event reports as compared to imaging volume over the above 19 year timeframe. The above also does *not* count most MRI-implant conflict adverse events.

(8/11)

The simultaneously good-and-bad news is that nearly every single MRI injury accident is preventable. We don't need to re-invent the wheel... we've already built the solutions. The challenge is that practices which we *know* prevent MRI injury accidents aren't required.

(9/11)

I've researched best practice effectiveness (alone and with noted MR Safety Expert, @ekanal) and have shown (in the attached infographic done with @MetrasensMRI) how existing best practices could virtually eliminate the most-reported MRI injuries.

(10/11)

So please accept my invitation to actively engage with this year's MRI Safety Week. Let's spend this week recommitting ourselves to improving MRI safety, and celebrating the people and practices that have helped us advance #MRIsafety.

(11/11) fin.

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