Radiation safety precautions for sentinel lymph node procedures

Radiation safety professionals need guidelines for controlling occupational radiation doses and handling generated contaminated tissues from sentinel lymph node procedures involving 99mTc. Many healthcare facilities do not have formal controls in place, or they adopt policies that may be too restrictive or impractical. During accreditation inspections at healthcare facilities, agencies such as the College of American Pathology and the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations occasionally raise questions about these issues. Inspectors expect to find formal policies to ensure these procedures are performed safely. The objective of this article is to review the basic radiation safety controls needed during sentinel lymph node procedures and to propose guidelines that may be used to control occupational radiation doses and handling of SLN contaminated tissues.