Abstract
Original Research Article
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SMJS Volume 3 Issue 1, Page 22- Page 32
PHYSICIANS' AWARENESS OF CONTRAST-ASSOCIATED NEPHROPATHY IN SAUDI ARABIA
Abdullah A. Alaryni, Alhanouf F. Altamimi, Sara H. Almogren, Abdullah A. Alkahtani, Abdullah S. Alahmari, Abdullah H. Alghamdi, Kholoud J. Sandougah
Objectives: Iodinated contrast-enhanced computed tomographic scans and angiographies are frequently performed in current medicine, making iodinated contrast medium (CM) one of the inevitably prescribed agents in diagnosing various diseases. There are several complications of CM; one of them is contrast-associated nephropathy (CAN). CAN is one of the most important complications of CM, which is a sudden deterioration of renal function resulting from intravenous (IV) or intra-arterial (IA) administration of contrast media.
Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study using an online self-administered questionnaire, guided by the study objectives, was performed in 2020 on 281 physicians who frequently ordered image-based CM for diagnosis in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, including general physicians, emergency department, internal medicine, general surgery, obstetrics/gynecology, radiologists, and interventional radiologists.
Results: The study showed variations in physicians' awareness regarding the risk factors, definition, and other aspects of contrast-associated nephropathy (CAN). The most common definition chosen by the respondents was an increase in serum creatinine by >25% or by 0.5 mg/dL from baseline within 48 hours (61.9%). Additionally, the result showed a high variability of the awareness of the CM complications and management among different medical subspecialties and physicians' experience years and gender. In addition, the results showed decreased awareness regarding the effect of hemodialysis on CAN. The majority thought that the side effects were commonly observed with arterial injections (69.8%), and preexisting chronic kidney disease was chosen as a risk factor (88.3%). For protocol management, most departments chose "50 mg prednisone given orally 13 hours, 7 hours, and one hour before the imaging study" for patients at high risk of CAN.
Conclusion: The study showed a lack of knowledge, awareness, complications, and management before and after the use of intravascular iodine contrast agents. A high effort is needed to increase the level of awareness of CAN among physicians by using social media and doing more discussions, seminars, workshops among the residents and physicians, as well as distributing pamphlets for further reading.
Keywords: Contrast, Nephropathy, Awareness, Iodinated, Physician
To Cite This Article: Alaryni AA, Altamimi AF, Almogren SH, Alkahtani AA, Alahmari AS, Alghamdi AH, Sandougah KJ. Physicians' Awareness Of Contrast-Associated Nephropathy In Saudi Arabia Saudi Med J Students. 2022;3(1):22-32
