A procedural sedation quality improvement audit form tool for interventional radiology

Area of Science:

• Interventional Radiology
• Anesthesiology
• Healthcare Quality Improvement

Background:

• Increasing interventional radiology (IR) procedures necessitate more procedural sedation (PS) outside the operating room.
• Inadequate guidelines and training for PS can lead to adverse events.
• Enhanced oversight and evaluation of PS practices are crucial.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a practical quality improvement (QI) tool for procedural sedation (PS) in interventional radiology (IR).
• To demonstrate the tool's implementability and utility as a quality measure in tertiary care centers.

Main Methods:

• A multidisciplinary team (radiologists, anesthesiologists, nurses) developed a QI tool.
• The tool evaluates preprocedural, intraprocedural, and postprocedural aspects of PS.
• The tool was implemented in the IR suite of a large tertiary care hospital.

Main Results:

• The QI tool was successfully implemented in a real-world IR setting.
• The tool assesses sedation effectiveness, safety practices, and communication during PS.
• The study aims to confirm the tool's practicality and ease of implementation.

Conclusions:

• The developed QI tool is practical and easily implementable in interventional radiology suites.
• This tool can serve as a valuable quality measure for assessing procedural sedation outcomes.
• Standardizing PS evaluation through this tool can improve patient safety and care in IR.