Fluoroscopic radiation burn after embolization of a spinal arteriovenous malformation.

Fluoroscopic radiation burns are being reported with increasing frequency because of the rise in number and duration of procedures performed under fluoroscopic guidance. We report a fluoroscopic radiation burn to a patient's back after three separate attempts to embolize a symptomatic spinal arteriovenous malformation, requiring fasciocutaneous flaps to ultimately close the wound. Risk factors, physiology, and modifications to decrease fluoroscopic radiation burns are discussed.