Overview
Interventional radiology treatments have become the primary method of care for a variety of conditions, offering less risk, less pain and faster recovery times than open surgery. In some cases, it can even eliminate the need for hospitalization.
What is Interventional Radiology?
Interventional radiology (IR) is a medical specialty that involves a doctor performing minimally invasive, targeted treatments by using X-ray and imaging techniques for procedure guidance.
Interventional radiologists are specialty-trained physicians who guide small needles, catheters and other small medical equipment into your body through tiny incisions in the skin. These instruments are manipulated within your body by the radiology doctors, who guide the instruments by seeing into your body, using X-ray, CT scan, ultrasound or MRI. The instruments are used to target and treat disease at its source in the body.
Examples of treatments administered by interventional radiologists include angioplasty, stenting, thrombolysis, embolization, radiofrequency ablation, and biopsies. These minimally invasive treatments can cure or alleviate symptoms of vascular disease, stroke, uterine fibroids, or cancer.
What Are the Advantages of Interventional Radiology?
- Most procedures can be performed on an outpatient basis or require only a short hospital stay.
- General anesthesia usually is not required.
- Risk, pain and recovery time are often significantly reduced.
- The procedures are frequently less expensive than surgery or other alternatives.
Procedures offered at Ballad Health
- Aneurysm Coiling (Intracranial)
- Angiograms / Angiography
- AV Fistula / AV Graft: Declotting
- Biliary Drains / Stents
- Central Venous Access
- Chemoembolization
- CT Guided Biopsy & Drains
- Embolization
- Gastrostomy Tube
- Hemodialysis Access Maintenance
- Needle Biopsy
- Percutaneous Nephrostomy Tube Placement
- Radiofrequency (RF) Ablations
- Stent Placement (Vascular & Venous)
- SubcutaneousPort Placements
- Thrombolysis
- Thrombectomy
- Uterine Fibroid Embolization
- Ultrasound Guided Biopsy, Drains, & Aspirations
- Vena Cava Filters
- Vertebroplasty
Where is Interventional Radiology Headed in the Future?
As technology advances and high-quality imaging equipment becomes more widely available, interventional radiology will continue to offer our patients and referral physicians a host of new treatment options. Stay tuned.