Common Procedures in Interventional Radiology

Interventional radiology (IR) has transformed medical care through innovative, minimally invasive procedures that serve as effective alternatives to traditional surgeries. IR uses imaging techniques like X-rays, computed tomography (CT), and ultrasound to access blood vessels or organs and perform both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The four core domains of IR include arterial interventions, venous interventions, non-vascular interventions, and interventional oncology.

Among the arterial procedures, an angioplasty (or balloon angioplasty) can treat atherosclerosis, the life-threatening plaque buildup in arteries that prevents oxygen-rich blood from reaching the organs. Atherosclerosis can adversely impact the heart, digestive system, legs, feet, kidneys, and brain. The procedure involves inserting a catheter with a small balloon into a blood vessel. Once inflated, the balloon compresses the plaque into the artery wall, clearing the way for blood to circulate. A stent may also be placed in the vessel at the diseased site in order to keep the artery open. Both angioplasty and the placement of stents represent common procedures with short recovery times and fewer risks than traditional surgery.

Another notable vascular intervention, uterine fibroid embolization, effectively relieves the often debilitating symptoms caused by uterine fibroids. These benign tumors of the uterus can cause lifestyle-limiting symptoms like heavy menstrual bleeding, pelvic pain, bloating, constipation, increased urinary frequency and urgency, pain on intercourse and miscarriages.

Embolization involves injecting small treatment particles into the arteries supplying the fibroids, with the goal of stopping blood flow to the fibroids, ultimately resulting in their death, their shrinkage and finally their absorption. This minimally invasive procedure is an effective alternative to more invasive techniques such as traditional surgeries like a hysterectomy or myomectomy and has the benefits of resolving all symptoms of fibroids including both heavy menstrual bleeding and bulk symptoms such as bloating, constipation, urinary urgency and frequency. It also has the added benefit of improving fertility in women who are unable to conceive or have healthy viable pregnancies because of their fibroids. When compared to more traditional surgeries to treat fibroids, uterine artery embolization offers a considerably improved recovery time.

Another arterial procedure that has dramatically reduced the risk of complications is cerebral aneurysm embolization. This minimally invasive procedure can replace open surgery, which typically carries higher risks. Embolization involves threading a catheter through the blood vessels to the aneurysm site and deploying soft metal coils to block blood flow into the aneurysm, preventing rupture. The procedure can treat cerebral aneurysms that were previously deemed inoperable.

1. Common Procedures in Interventional Radiology

2. Interventional radiology (IR) has transformed medical care through innovative, minimally invasive procedures that serve as effective alternatives to traditional surgeries. IR uses imaging techniques like X-rays, computed tomography (CT), and ultrasound to access blood vessels or organs and perform both diagnostic and therapeutic procedures. The four core domains of IR include arterial interventions, venous interventions, non-vascular interventions, and interventional oncology. Among the arterial procedures, an angioplasty (or balloon angioplasty) can treat atherosclerosis, the life-threatening plaque buildup in arteries that prevents oxygen-rich blood from reaching the organs. Atherosclerosis can adversely impact the heart, digestive system, legs, feet, kidneys, and brain. The procedure involves inserting a catheter with a small balloon into a blood vessel. Once inflated, the balloon compresses the plaque into the artery wall, clearing the way for blood to circulate. A stent may also be placed in the vessel at the diseased site in order to keep the artery open. Both angioplasty and the placement of stents represent common procedures with short recovery times and fewer risks than traditional surgery. Another notable vascular intervention, uterine fibroid embolization, effectively relieves the often debilitating symptoms caused by uterine fibroids. These benign tumors of the uterus can cause lifestyle-limiting symptoms like heavy menstrual bleeding, pelvic pain, bloating, constipation, increased urinary frequency and urgency, pain on intercourse and miscarriages. Embolization involves injecting small treatment particles into the arteries supplying the fibroids, with the goal of stopping blood flow to the fibroids, ultimately resulting in their death, their shrinkage and finally their absorption. This minimally invasive procedure is an effective alternative to more invasive techniques such as traditional surgeries like a hysterectomy or myomectomy and has the benefits of resolving all symptoms of fibroids including both heavy menstrual bleeding and bulk symptoms such as bloating, constipation, urinary urgency and frequency. It also has the added benefit of improving fertility in women who are unable to conceive or have healthy viable pregnancies because of their fibroids. When compared to more traditional surgeries to treat fibroids, uterine artery embolization offers a considerably improved recovery time.

3. Another arterial procedure that has dramatically reduced the risk of complications is cerebral aneurysm embolization. This minimally invasive procedure can replace open surgery, which typically carries higher risks. Embolization involves threading a catheter through the blood vessels to the aneurysm site and deploying soft metal coils to block blood flow into the aneurysm, preventing rupture. The procedure can treat cerebral aneurysms that were previously deemed inoperable. While the risk of infection or blood vessel damage exists, the procedure can reduce symptoms and extend a patient’s life. Among the venous procedures performed in IR, thrombectomy has proven effective in reducing the risk of disability or even death caused by a thrombus, or blood clot. Blood clots can develop and travel, causing harm in various places, including the legs, lungs, heart, and brain. The thrombectomy procedure involves the removal of a blood clot from a blocked vein or artery, thus helping to restore blood flow to the area of concern, thereby minimizing damage to nearby organs. Compared to a surgical thrombectomy, which requires an incision to remove the blood clot, a percutaneous thrombectomy employs tiny catheters that are inserted into the body by puncturing a blood vessel. Imaging techniques help to guide the catheter through the circulatory system to the blood vessel containing the problematic blood clot, allowing for insertion of special tools that help to break up, dissolve, or aspirate the clot.

4. Vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are non-vascular procedures that can provide significant relief for patients with painful vertebral compression fractures, which often occur due to trauma in the setting of underlying osteoporosis. Vertebroplasty involves injecting medical-grade cement into the fractured vertebra to stabilize it and relieve pain. Kyphoplasty requires inserting a balloon into the vertebra, inflating it to create space, and then removing it to fill the space with cement. Both procedures have proven successful in reducing pain and helping patients to regain mobility. Furthermore, like all interventional radiology procedures, both vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty are minimally invasive and offer patients short recovery periods. Finally, microwave ablation and chemoembolization are two common interventional oncology techniques used to treat tumors in the liver, kidneys, lungs, and other organs. Microwave ablation uses heat to destroy cancerous cells, usually to control cancer growth and limit symptoms and further spread of the tumor. This procedure is an option for patients who are not candidates for surgery for reasons like tumor location, the presence of several tumors, or other health concerns. It is often used alongside other treatments and has proven successful in managing symptoms, particularly pain from cancer that has spread to the bones. Chemoembolization is another interventional radiology technique. This intervention has advanced liver cancer treatment by combining chemotherapy with embolization. In this procedure, chemotherapy drugs are delivered directly into the blood supply to the tumor by inserting a catheter into a blood vessel and guiding it to the tumor. The procedure uses embolic agents to both block the blood supply to the tumor as well as trap the chemotherapeutic drugs in the tumor. This latter point helps to enhance efficacy and minimize the side effects of the chemotherapy. This targeted approach is appropriate for patients with large, inoperable tumors or other cancers that have spread to the liver.