What is interventional radiology?
The next time you talk with your doctor about treatment for a health problem, you may hear a new term—interventional radiology.
Doctors use interventional radiology to diagnose and treat problems in nearly every organ in the body—including heart and vascular diseases, cancer and reproductive health issues. It is used for biopsies and drainage procedures, as well as procedures that start or stop blood flow to a specific area of the body.
An interventional radiology procedure is usually done in an outpatient setting, meaning you go home the same day as your procedure. You can recover faster with less pain and have a lower risk of complications (as compared to a major surgery).
Here’s how interventional radiology works:
- Picture inside your body – An interventional radiologist uses X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, ultrasound or other medical imaging to closely examine your internal organs.
- Pinhole entry point – A tiny incision in your wrist, abdomen or groin allows doctors to insert small instruments, like catheters or wires, into your arteries.
- Pathway to the problem – With medical imaging, your doctor can guide instruments through your arteries to the area that needs treatment.
- Blood flow restored – One of the primary uses of interventional radiology is to place stents in narrow or weak arteries. The small mesh tubes open up the artery and allow blood to flow more easily.
- Blocking blood flow – An IR procedure (called embolization) cuts off the blood supply to tumors in the liver, uterine fibroids, bleeding hemorrhoids or enlarged prostates. It starves the target tissue of oxygen and causes it to shrink and/or stop bleeding.
If you suffer from uterine fibroids, bleeding hemorrhoids or an enlarged prostate gland, talk to your healthcare provider about recommended treatment options, or contact Goshen Heart & Vascular Center’s interventional radiology team at (574) 537-5000 to find out if a minimally invasive procedure is right for you.
Read more about this minimally invasive, image-guided treatment.