The implementation of clinical quality control in mammography exams: Challenges for professionals and managers

Abstract

Introduction: Mammography is the gold standard for diagnosis of  breast  cancer, a good positioning guarantees a   more accurate  diagnosis, being  in most  cases a great challenge  for the  professionals  of  the  radiological  techniques. The implementation of a clinical  quality  control  program  helps  to   create  strategies  to  minimize nonconformities  caused  by  positioning  errors.  Objective: To  analyze  how the   implantation  of  clinical  quality  control in mammography  occurred  and  what  were the   results  referring  to the   positioning  in         the  period  from  2014 to  2016.  Methodology: This  was  a mixed  approach of  an  applied  nature. The data were  collected  from  February  to  April 2019, in  the   database of the   radiodiagnosis service and through an interview with the   coordinator  of   the   service and  the  radiologist. Results: Since the   implantation  of the   clinical  quality  control program  were found several  challenges  among  them  to  change    the   positioning  culture, self- evaluation  criteria,  the   main  challenge of   professionals  and  managers is  to  maintain  the  quality  standard of  mammographic  images. In  the   period  from 2014 to  2016, 8,500 mammography  examinations were     evaluated  and  13,827 nonconformities  were  found, distributed  between  the  following  incidences: caudal    skull  and  lateral oblique lateral. The most  evident  nonconformities  are related  to the   absence of the   pectoralis  major in  the   caudal cranial incidence  with      the  greatest  number  of  errors,   being   present  in 65.6% of  the  mammographic  images. Then the   pectoral  muscle at the   nipple  height with 32.7% and  pectoral muscle  contracted  with  21.7% at  the oblique mediolateral  incidence.    Conclusion: The clinical  quality  control  program  is  an  excellent  strategy  to  identify  routine  errors  for a more accurate  diagnosis.  With  continuous  training of  radiology  professionals, the  program  can  be  even  more effective.

DOI:https://doi.org/10.56238/devopinterscie-279