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Background and Aims An elderly female patient had an epidural catheter insitu for a second revised hip replacement. On third postoperative day, she developed symptoms suggestive of epidural haematoma. With surgical clips in place at the operated site MRI scan of the spine was delayed due to concerns of surgical clips displacement and heating under the MR scanner. MR scan was performed later that evening after contacting the surgical clip company for MR safety.

Methods Literature search was initiated after deciding the search words and performed in Pubmed and EMBASE Results were de-duplicated using RefWorks.

Results Most surgical skin clips in current use are either non-ferromagnetic or minimally ferromagnetic, making them safe for use with MRI scans, provided the scanner’s strength is less than 3 TESLA. The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has established guidelines recommending that hospitals ensure proper identification, documentation, imaging, and aftercare for patients with implantable medical devices who require MRI scanning. These guidelines are updated annually. No case reports over the past 15 years have been identified that indicate surgical clips cause tissue damage or migration when subjected to an MRI scanner. At least five case studies have tested the effects of different skin clips under MRI scanners, with three studies using 1.5 TESLA scanners and two using 3 TESLA scanners. All results indicated that the clips were safe under these conditions.

Conclusions Established hospital guidelines should be in place for MRI Scan in patients with surgical clips. This will minimise delay which may have negative impact on patient outcomes.