Efficacy of the RADPAD protective drape during real world complex percutaneous coronary intervention procedures

The RADPAD is a lead-free surgical drape containing bismuth and barium that has been demonstrated to reduce scatter radiation exposure to primary operators during fluoroscopic procedures. It is not known to what degree the RADPAD reduces radiation exposure in operators who perform highly complex percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) requiring prolonged fluoroscopic screening times. Sixty consecutive patients due to undergo elective complex PCI involving rotational atherectomy, multivessel PCI, or chronic total occlusions were randomized in a 1:1 pattern to have their procedures performed with and without the RADPAD drape in situ. Dosimetry was performed on the left arm of the primary operator. There were 40 cases of chronic total occlusion, including 28 with contralateral injections; 15 cases involving rotational atherectomy; and 5 cases of multivessel PCI. There was no significant difference in screening times or dose-area products between the 2 patient groups. Primary operator radiation dose relative to screening time (RADPAD: slope = 1.44, R² = 0.25; no RADPAD: slope = 4.60, R² = 0.26; analysis of covariance F = 4.81, p = 0.032) and dose-area product (RADPAD: slope = 0.003, R² = 0.26; no RADPAD: slope = 0.011, R² = 0.52; analysis of covariance F = 12.54, p = 0.008) was significantly smaller in the RADPAD cohort compared to the no-RADPAD group. In conclusion, the RADPAD significantly reduces radiation exposure to primary operators during prolonged, complex PCI cases.