A review of safety, quality management, and practice guidelines for high-dose-rate brachytherapy: executive summary. Pract Radiat Oncol 2014;4(2):65-70
Date
06/04/2014Pubmed ID
24890345DOI
10.1016/j.prro.2013.12.005Scopus ID
2-s2.0-84896731204 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 55 CitationsAbstract
This white paper was commissioned by the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Board of Directors to evaluate the status of safety and practice guidance for high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy. Given the maturity of HDR brachytherapy technology, this white paper considers, from a safety point of view, the adequacy of general physics and quality assurance guidance, as well as clinical guidance documents available for the most common treatment sites. The rate of medical events in HDR brachytherapy procedures in the United States in 2009 and 2010 was 0.02%, corresponding to 5-sigma performance. The events were not due to lack of guidance documents but failures to follow those recommendations or human failures in the performance of tasks. The white paper summarized by this Executive Summary reviews current guidance documents and offers recommendations regarding their application to delivery of HDR brachytherapy. It also suggests topics where additional research and guidance is needed.
Author List
Thomadsen BR, Erickson BA, Eifel PJ, Hsu IC, Patel RR, Petereit DG, Fraass BA, Rivard MJAuthor
Beth A. Erickson MD Professor in the Radiation Oncology department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
BrachytherapyHumans
Patient Safety
Practice Guidelines as Topic
Quality of Health Care
Radiation Oncology
United States
