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Background: Intraoperative MRI (iMRI) has emerged as a useful tool in glioma surgery to safely improve the extent of resection. However, iMRI requires a dedicated operating room (OR) with an integrated MRI scanner solely for this purpose. Due to physical or economical restraints, this may not be feasible in all centers. The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using a non-dedicated MRI scanner at the radiology department for iMRI and to describe the workflow with special focus on time expenditure and surgical implications., Methods: In total, 24 patients undergoing glioma surgery were included. When the resection was deemed completed, the wound was temporarily closed, and the patient, under general anesthesia, was transferred to the radiology department for iMRI, which was performed using a dedicated protocol on 1.5 or 3 T scanners. After performing iMRI the patient was returned to the OR for additional tumor resection or final wound closure. All procedural times, timestamps, and adverse events were recorded., Result: The median time from the decision to initiate iMRI until reopening of the wound after scanning was 68 (52-104) minutes. Residual tumors were found on iMRI in 13 patients (54%). There were no adverse events during the surgeries, transfers, transportations, or iMRI-examinations. There were no wound-related complications or infections in the postoperative period or at follow-up. There were no readmissions within 30 or 90 days due to any complication., Conclusion: Performing intraoperative MRI using an MRI located outside the OR department was feasible and safe with no adverse events. It did not require more time than previously reported data for dedicated iMRI scanners. This could be a viable alternative in centers without access to a dedicated iMRI suite., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Background: The current shortage of radiology staff in healthcare provides a challenge for departments all over the world. This leads to more evaluation of how the radiology resources are used and a demand to use them in the most efficient way. Intraoperative MRI is one of many recent advancements in radiological practice. If radiology staff is performing intraoperative MRI at the operation ward, they may be impeded from performing other examinations at the radiology department, creating costs in terms of exams not being performed. Since this is a kind of cost whose importance is likely to increase, we have studied the practice of intraoperative MRI in Sweden., Methods: The study includes data from the first four hospitals in Sweden that installed MRI scanners adjacent to the operating theaters. In addition, we included data from Karolinska University Hospital in Solna where intraoperative MRI is carried out at the radiology department., Results: Scanners that were moved into the operation theater and doing no or few other scans were used 11-12% of the days. Stationary scanners adjacent to the operation room were used 35-41% of the days. For scanners situated at the radiology department doing intraoperative scans interspersed among all other scans, the proportion was 92%., Conclusion: Our study suggests that performing exams at the radiology department rather than at several locations throughout the hospital may be an efficient approach to tackle the simultaneous trends of increasing demands for imaging and increasing staff shortages at radiology departments., (© 2024. The Author(s).)