CHANDIGARH: A gruesome incident of a man getting killed after being sucked up by a
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machine on Saturday in a Mumbai hospital has put the city doctors on high alert here. Following the incident, they feel it has now become crucial to educate both the health providers and seekers over dos and don'ts of entering an
MRI room.
Although there is an official list of articles not to be worn or taken inside an MRI room, it is seldom acknowledged by patients and their relatives. Keeping this careless attitude in view, the city radiologists want that patients must go through a proper screening - backed by a human and a metal detector - before undergoing an MRI. They say that this should become a standard procedure and every hospital must adhere to it.
"Often attendants of patients keep on changing. This does not allow them to understand what all needs to be avoided. There must be proper orientation classes with relatives and patients," said head of the radiodiagnosis department
PGI Dr N
Khandelwal.
"With metal detectors and a security guard in and around these areas, such accidents can be avoided," Khandelwal added.
The doctors have also opined that everything cannot be left to the hospital staff and the patients and their relatives too need to be vigilant in a bid to avoid such incidents.
"Patients must be aware of their implants and tell their doctor about them. Even the debit and credit cards should not be placed in the pocket or near the MRI area. The magnetic radiations from the scanner make the magnetic strip useless," said Dr
Naveen Kalra of department of radiodiagnosis at PGI.
Representative Image
