Interventional radiology. A survey of staff, imaging equipment and procedures

AIM: To explore the current situation and problems of interventional radiology (IR) staff, imaging equipment and procedures in hospitals. METHODS: An electronic questionnaire was sent to 186 officially registered secondary and tertiary hospitals through a dedicated network for medical administration in a city in China. Data collection efforts ceased two weeks after the questionnaire was sent out. RESULTS: The response rate was 100%. IR procedures were provided in 22 hospitals (11.8%). 50.0% were 2A level hospitals. 95.5% began to perform IR procedures in the last three decades. The IR workload of 3A level hospitals was significantly heavier than that in 3B or 2 level hospitals (1139.20 +/- 699.32 vs. 95.60 +/- 45.48, 1139.20 +/- 699.32 vs. 85.17 +/- 61.15; P<0.001). There were more senior interventional radiologists than juniors (43 vs. 41), and insufficient radiographers (radiographer-equipment ratio 0.91 +/- 0.54). Thirteen hospitals (59.1%) had set up independent IR departments, and several clinical departments provided IR service at the same time in ten hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: The IR specialty of 3A hospitals had obvious advantages in staff, imaging equipment, and procedure volume over other hospitals. It should be noted that there were fewer junior interventional radiologists and the number of radiographers was inadequate. Further attract the talents to the IR field is important in future.