The MIBG Treatment Room

Patients who receive MIBG therapy stay in the MIBG treatment room until their radiation levels fall below a designated level.

Inside the room, we take the following precautions to reduce the possibility of contamination spreading beyond the patient’s bed.

Room wrapped in plastic

Most surfaces in the MIBG room are covered in plastic—the floor, bed, door handles within the room, equipment, toilet seat, etc. The plastic helps prevent the room from being contaminated, so that after a patient treated with MIBG therapy goes home, the room can be used to treat patients receiving different treatments. It is also helpful in the case of a catheter leak, or a spill of a catheter collection bag—the plastic makes cleaning up easy and safe.

Lead shields at the bedside

The lead shields next to the bed protect you from radiation exposure while you care for the patient. You should always stand behind the shield. Don’t try to move these shields. They are very heavy.

Clean Corner

As the primary caregiver, you should spend most of your time in the “Clean Corner.” Here you’ll find the couch where you sit and sleep, positioned a safe distance from the patient’s bed. Do everything you can to keep this area from being contaminated. Do not sit on the couch wearing gowns or gloves or you may bring contamination back to it after you’ve gone to the patient’s bed. Your family’s luggage and other belongings will be stored behind the couch.

Bathroom

The bathroom in the MIBG room is for disposal of the patient’s urine and feces only. Caregivers should not relieve themselves or shower in the bathroom in the MIBG room.

To prevent yourself from becoming contaminated with radiation, you must use the bathrooms elsewhere on the inpatient unit. There is a shower for family members in the Connelly Center on the 8th floor of the Main Building. There are a couple of circumstances in which it is OK to enter the patient bathroom and Radiation Safety will review these with you.

Trash boxes

There are three trash boxes in the MIBG room, and each has a special purpose.

1. Bathroom box for waste that may smell, such as food or soiled linens.
2. A box next to the door to the hallway for dry trash such as gloves, gowns, and booties.
3. Window box for use if the others are full and for any soiled linens.

Visitor restrictions

Visitors are not allowed to enter the treatment room. This is for their own safety. No one who is pregnant or under 18 years of age is ever allowed in the room.