Stickiness of 7 types of iodinated contrast media used during interventional radiology and interventional cardiology procedures

Introduction: During Interventional Cardiology (IC) and Interventional Radiology (IR) procedures operators’ gloves, guide wires and catheters may stick together due to the inherent stickiness of Iodine Containing Contrast Media (ICCM). This may result in displacement of materials, compromising technical success. In this study we compare the stickiness of seven frequently used types of ICCM.

Material and methods: Xenetix 300, Hexabrix 320 (Guerbet, Villepinte, France), Ultravist 300 (Bayer, Leverkusen, Germany), Visipaque 270, Omnipaque 300, Visipaque 320 (GE, Wauwatosa, WI) and Iomeron300 (Bracco, Milano, Italy) are compared using a probe-tack test. Pieces of surgical gloves are put together with 0.1 ml of of ICCM in between, and subsequently pulled apart under computer control. Stickiness is measured as the work needed to separate the probes.

Results: From least to most sticky results were: Hexabrix 320 (mean Work (mJ); range: 0.70; 0.16–1.23), Visipaque 270 (1.18; 0.47–1.89), Visipaque 320 (1.70; 0.59–2.81), Iomeron 300 (3.01; 1.82–4.20), Xenetix 300 (5.83; 3.96–7.69), Ultravist 300 (5.83; 2.83–8.84), Omnipaque 300 (8.14; 6.95–9.33). The four least sticky ICCM differ statistically significantly (p = 0.000–0.004) from the remaining. In this research Omnipaque 300, Ultravist 300 and Xenetix 300 are the stickiest and may hence pose the greatest practical problems during procedures; in contrast, Hexabrix 320, Visipaque 270 and Visipaque 320 are the least sticky in this research and may therefore aid in constraining complications caused by stickiness.

Conclusion: A significant and reproducible difference in stickiness exists between commercially available ICCM, Hexabrix 320, Visipaque 270, Visipaque 320 and Iomeron 300, being least sticky.