Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for the acute care oncology patient

Magnetic resonance imaging has evolved to become the gold standard in diagnosis, staging, and surveillance in cancer. The acute care oncology patient must be screened properly and transitioned to the MRI suite with safety in mind. First, patients undergo a rigorous preprocedural checklist and MRI metal screening questionnaire. The MRI is a complex machine and can cause many hazards to patients and staff, so when safety measures are followed thoroughly, complications are minimized. Many patients need sedation or general anesthesia to withstand the long scan times, and with an aging population, cardiac implanted electronic devices are utilized more frequently, which poses a challenge to those needing magnetic resonance imaging. MRI is deemed safer than other imaging modalities, but it does have its own complications, especially when patients are critically ill.