Re: seeds recovered at TURP procedures

[Chris Alston <alstonc@odrge.odr.georgetown.edu>]

>From: Trevor Fitzgerald <TFitz01@AOL.COM>

>On this topic, we did a TURP on a patient who was a few months earlier
>implanted with Pd 103 4 seeds were recovered from the strainer. Two of them
>were shreded by the cutting tool. Fortunately its was Pd which is not taken
>up readily in the body, and it was a few 1/2 lives old, but if this were a
>more recent I-125 implant it could of been a different story. I too would be
>interested to hear of guidlines being used for post implant TURPs, i.e. wait
>X number of months, strain what gets flushed out, etc. I think some
>urologists may not be aware of the hazards, and some instruction would be
>helpful.
>
>Making the implanting institution responsible for the seeds if they are
>removed may be difficult and not enforcable if they are in a different state
>than the one removing the prostate or doing the TURP. Again, educating the
>urologist to consult the RSO before performing a procedure on an implant
>patient would be helpful.
>
>As far as cremation, it seems I read a paper on this in PMB once and the
>burden to the general public was negligible, as would the exposure to funeral
>home staff. I think we need some intelligent and REASONABLE input to the
>departments of health in this matter so we don't get regulated into doing
>something for the sake of paranoia and not good science.
>
>My two cents
>
>Trevor Fitzgerald, MSc DABR
>
>In a message dated 8/30/99 12:07:57 PM Pacific Daylight Time, Larry@CARTI.COM
>writes:
>
><< s anyone aware of an intelligent procedure for O.R.'s to follow regarding
> recovery of I-125 or Pd-103 seeds during a TURP or prostatectomy? Our health
> dept. is struggling with this and considering requiring the institution
> which did the implant  to bear responsibility for collecting the seeds from
> the tissue and disposing of the seeds. Has anyone else faced this situation?
>  >>
>
>	***********	************
>Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for Medphys at:
>http://sherouse.home.mindspring.com/MPFAQ/
>
>Archives of recent Medphys Postings at:
>http://www.escribe.com/medicine/medphys/
>

************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html