Objectives. Radiation scatter protection shield drapes have been designed with the goal of decreasing radiation dose to the operators during transfemoral catheterization. We sought to investigate the impact on operator radiation exposure of various shielding drapes specifically designed for the radial approach. Background. Radial access for cardiac catheterization has increased due to improved patient comfort and decreased bleeding complications. There are concerns for increased radiation

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... re to patients and operators. Methods. Radiation doses to a simulated operator were measured with a RadCal Dosimeter in the cardiac catheterization laboratory. The mock patient was a 97.5 kg fission product phantom. Three lead-free drape designs were studied. The drapes were placed just proximal to the right wrist and extended medially to phantom's trunk. Simulated diagnostic coronary angiography included 6 minutes of fluoroscopy time and 32 seconds of cineangiography time at 4 standard angulated views (8 s each), both 15 frames/s. ANOVA with Bonferroni correction was used for statistical analysis. Results. All drape designs led to substantial reductions in operator radiation exposure compared to control (P<0.0001). The greatest decrease in radiation exposure (72%) was with the L-shaped design. Conclusions. Dedicated radial shielding drapes decrease radiation exposure to the operator by up to 72% during simulated cardiac catheterization.