Interventional Radiology

What procedures do interventional radiologists perform?

Interventional radiologists do a variety of procedures, including:

• Ablations. Percutaneous tumor ablation refers to a range of techniques which destroy tumor tissue via needles placed through the skin.
• Angiography. This is an X-ray of the arteries and veins to find blockage or narrowing of the vessels, as well as other problems.
• Angioplasty. The provider puts a small balloon-tipped catheter into a blood vessel. Then they inflate the balloon to open up an area of blockage inside the vessel.
• Biliary Procedures. Percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTCD) is the placement of a drain into bile ducts using needles inserted through the skin. The procedure can be used to treat cholestasis (where the bile cannot flow from the liver to the small intestine), which may be a result of a narrowing or blockage in the bile ducts or of a bile leakage after an operation.
• Embolization. The provider puts a substance through a catheter into a blood vessel to stop blood flow through that vessel. This can be done to control bleeding, to prevent blood vessels from supplying to fibroids or stop flow to certain vessels in the prostate to control and minimize pain.
• Clot Removal. Through a minimally invasive procedure, the provider can removal clot from the lungs or other areas affected.
• Gastrostomy tubes. The provider puts a feeding tube into the stomach if you can’t take food by mouth.
• Intravascular ultrasound. The provider uses ultrasound to see inside a blood vessel to find problems.
• Stent placement. The provider places a tiny mesh coil (stent) inside a blood vessel at the site of a blockage. They expand the stent to open up the blockage.
• Foreign body removal. The provider puts a catheter into a blood vessel to remove a foreign body in the vessel.
• Needle biopsy. The provider puts a small needle into almost any part of the body, guided by imaging methods, to take a tissue biopsy. This type of biopsy can give a diagnosis without surgery. An example of this procedure is called the needle breast biopsy.
• IVC filters. The provider puts a small filter into the inferior vena cava (IVC). This is a large vein in your belly (abdomen). The filter catches blood clots that may go into your lungs.
• Injection of clot-dissolving medicines. The provider injects clot-dissolving medicines, such as tissue plasminogen activator. This medicine dissolves blood clots and increases blood flow to your arms, legs, or organs in your body.
• Catheter insertions. The provider puts a tube (catheter) into a large vein to give chemotherapy medicines, nutrition, or hemodialysis. They may also put in a catheter before a bone marrow transplant.
• Cancer treatment. The provider gives the cancer medicine directly to the tumor site.