About Interventional Radiology

Much smaller incisions. Less risk. Less pain. And much quicker recoveries

expertise in reading X-rays

The Benefits of Interventional Radiology

• You’re back home sooner because most procedures can be performed on an outpatient basis or require only a short hospital stay.
• Because the procedure is minimally invasive there is less pain post-procedure.
• There is less risk because general anesthesia usually is not required.
• You can resume your everyday activities sooner because recovery times are often significantly reduced.
• The procedures are sometimes less expensive than surgery or other alternatives.

The Development Interventional Radiology

Other Common Interventional Procedures include

• Angiography

  
  This X-ray exam of the arteries and veins is used to diagnose blockages and other blood vessel problems; the IR uses a catheter to enter the blood vessel and inject a contrast agent (X-ray dye) to make the artery or vein visible on the X-ray

• Balloon Angioplasty

  
  By inserting a very small balloon into the vessel and inflating it, blocked or narrowed blood vessels can be opened. Used by IRs to unblock clogged arteries in the legs or arms (called peripheral vascular disease or PVD), kidneys, brain or elsewhere in the body.

• Biliary Drainage and Stenting

  
  This treatment uses a stent (small mesh tube) to open blocked ducts and that allow bile to drain from the liver.

• Central Venous Access

  
  In this procedure the IR inserts a tube beneath the skin and into the blood vessels so that patients can have blood drawn or have medication and/or nutrients delivered directly into the blood stream.
• Chemoembolization
  This treatment delivers cancer-fighting agents directly to the site of a cancer tumor; it is currently being used to treat cancers of the endocrine system, including melanoma and liver cancer.
• Embolization
  This procedure can deliver clotting agents (coils, plastic particles, gelfoam, etc.) directly to an area that is bleeding or block blood flow to a problem area, such as an aneurysm or a fibroid tumor in the uterus.
• Fallopian Tube Catheterization
  A treatment for infertility, this procedure uses a catheter to open blocked fallopian tubes without surgery.

• Gastrostomy Tube

  
  IRs are able to insert a feeding tube into the stomach of patients who are unable to take sufficient food by mouth.
• Hemodialysis Access Maintenance
  This treatment uses angioplasty or thrombolysis to open blocked grafts to treat kidney failure.

• Needle Biopsy

  
  This diagnostic test for breast, lung and other cancers is an alternative to surgical biopsy.

• Radiofrequency Ablation

  
  This treatment uses radiofrequency (RF) energy to cook and kill cancerous tumors.
• Stent
  A small flexible tube made of plastic or wire mesh, a stent is used to hold open clogged blood vessels or other pathways that have been narrowed or blocked by tumors, clots or obstructions.
• Stent-Graft
  A stent-graft reinforces a ruptured or ballooning section of an artery (an aneurysm) with a small, fabric-wrapped flexible mesh tube that is used to "patch" the blood vessel. Also known as an endograft.
• Thrombolysis
  This procedure dissolves blood clots by injecting clot-busting drugs at the site of the clot.
• TIPS (Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt)
  This often life-saving procedure improves blood flow and prevents hemorrhaging in patients with severe liver dysfunction.

• Uterine Artery Embolization
  An embolization procedure to stop life- threatening postpartum bleeding, it can potentially prevent the need for a hysterectomy. When used to treat fibroid tumors this same procedure is called UFE (Uterine Fibroid Embolization).
• Uterine Fibroid Embolization
  This embolization procedure shrinks painful, enlarged, benign tumors in the uterus. Also called a Uterine Artery Embolization (UAE).

The Future of Radiology

Interventional Radiology