The following is a summary of “Institutional response to the 2022 iodinated contrast shortage: A narrative review,” published in the February 2023 issue of Emergency Medicine by Rosander, et al.

Healthcare systems throughout the world have been impacted by the 2022 iodinated contrast material (ICM) shortfall, which forced institutions to react by putting measures to preserve ICM without sacrificing patient care. To better allocate resources to trauma patients, researchers, for a study, sought to provide the procedures that had been shown to reduce ICM use.

A literature search was done using Cochrane, Google Scholar, and PubMed. In addition to institutional changes suggested as a reaction to the anticipated scarcity of ICM in 2022, studies examining the usefulness of ICM in the care of trauma and emergency surgery patients were added for review.

They chose and examined eight papers. It had been discovered that using non-contrast-enhanced imaging modalities, especially non-contrast-enhanced CT (NECT), significantly lowered the need for ICM. Other organizations put techniques into place to lower the ICM dose for each imaging study carried out, such as lowering the ICM dose and tube voltage, which has been found to lower ICM consumption by 50%. Another efficient technique was to divide single-dose contrast vials into smaller aliquots used for several imaging examinations. Creating a Radiology Command Center Team, tasked with monitoring ICM supplies and providing 24/7 consultations for alternatives to imaging, has also led to a 50% decrease in contrast consumption overall in just seven days.

The majority of healthcare organizations discovered that using alternate imaging modalities was an efficient way to lower ICM use in anticipation of the ICM scarcity in 2022. ICM waste minimization and dosage reduction were further viable strategies.

Reference: sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0735675722007136