Interventional Radiology

What is interventional radiology?

Interventional radiology uses medical imaging techniques to guide doctors during diagnostic and treatment procedures. These procedures are minimally invasive, requiring only tiny incisions. Image guidance ensures optimal precision, helping doctors avoid damaging tissues, organs, and skin surrounding the treatment site.  

This means procedures are significantly less painful than traditional surgery. HealthyU Clinics practitioners perform the procedures in-office and patients go home the same day. Patients typically recover quickly with little or no scarring. 

What does interventional radiology involve?

When you undergo interventional radiology, your provider uses ultrasound and fluoroscopy (moving X-ray) to carry out procedures like inserting a catheter (slim, flexible tube) into a blood vessel. You might need a mild sedative and/or local anesthesia to ensure your comfort, but patients rarely require a general anesthetic. 

What uses does interventional radiology have?

Interventional radiology has many uses, including:

Angiography

This diagnostic procedure examines the inside of your blood vessels for narrowing and weaknesses. The interventional radiologist can also treat the blood vessel problems with balloon angioplasty (widening narrowed arteries), stenting (inserting a mesh tube to hold arteries open), thrombolysis (breaking up blood clots), or embolization (shutting off a blood vessel).

Tube placement

Interventional radiology procedures guide your provider when placing drainage tubes to remove excess fluid, feeding tubes for people who can’t eat, and central lines for kidney dialysis.

Biopsies

Interventional radiology techniques enable your provider to perform an accurate biopsy, extracting tissue samples for lab analysis.

Joint aspirations

Your provider can draw excess fluid out of your joints using a needle that utilizes interventional radiology techniques.

Photoevaporation

Photoevaporation involves using lasers to destroy painful bumps caused by vascular malformations (abnormal blood vessels).

Abscess drainage

An abscess is an abnormal fluid-filled pocket. The pressure buildup from the excess fluid can cause severe pain and tenderness, so your provider drains the abscess to relieve your symptoms.

Steroid injections and nerve blocks

Your provider injects a steroid and/or local anesthetic into a painful joint, nerve cluster, or part of your spine to relieve inflammation and pain. 

Varicose vein treatments:

Interventional radiology techniques can be used to treat varicose veins, including procedures like endovenous laser treatment (EVLT) and sclerotherapy. 

Uterine fibroid embolization

This is a minimally invasive procedure that can shrink fibroids in the uterus, relieving symptoms like heavy menstrual bleeding and pelvic pain. 

Geniculate artery embolization

This procedure is used to treat chronic knee pain caused by osteoarthritis. It involves blocking the blood flow to certain areas of the knee, reducing inflammation and pain. 

Prostate artery embolization

This is a minimally invasive treatment for an enlarged prostate. It involves blocking the blood supply to the prostate, causing it to shrink and relieving symptoms. 

Shoulder embolization

This procedure is used to treat frozen shoulder syndrome. It involves blocking the blood flow to certain areas of the shoulder, reducing inflammation and pain. 

Radiofrequency Ablation for tumor ablation or nerve pain

This procedure uses heat generated by radio waves to destroy cancer cells. Under image guidance, a thin, needle-like probe is inserted through the skin and into the tumor. The tip of the probe releases radiofrequency energy that heats and destroys the cancer cells. It can also be used in the spine or large joints to destroy the nerve endings. 

Microwave Ablation

Like radiofrequency ablation, microwave ablation uses heat to destroy cancer cells. However, it uses microwave energy, which can create larger treatment zones and perform the procedure more quickly. 

Cryoablation

This procedure involves freezing the cancer cells to kill them. A thin, needle-like probe is inserted through the skin and into the tumor under image guidance. The probe then releases a gas that freezes the cells, causing them to die. 

Bland Embolization

This procedure is used to treat liver cancer. It involves injecting small particles into the artery that supplies blood to the tumor. This blocks the blood flow, causing the tumor to starve and shrink. 

Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty

These procedures are used to treat painful vertebral compression fractures, often caused by osteoporosis or cancer. In vertebroplasty, medical-grade bone cement is injected into the fractured vertebra to stabilize the fracture and relieve pain. Kyphoplasty involves the insertion of a small balloon into the vertebra, which is then inflated to create a space that is filled with bone cement. Both procedures can significantly reduce pain and improve spinal stability. 

IVC Filter Placement

The IVC filter is a small, cage-like device that is placed in the inferior vena cava, a large vein that carries blood from the lower body to the heart. The filter catches blood clots before they can reach the lungs, while still allowing blood to flow around the clots. This procedure is typically performed on patients who are at risk for pulmonary embolism but cannot take anticoagulant medications, or in cases where anticoagulant medications are not effective. 

To learn more about the interventional radiology services available at HealthyU Clinics, call us at (602) 491-0703 or book an appointment online today.