Vascular and Interventional Radiology (IR)
Technology advances of the past 20 years have enabled a new field of medicine to take root and rapidly grow. Vascular and interventional radiology (IR) is a subspecialty of radiology that takes advantage of imaging technology to diagnose conditions and provide precisely targeted, nonsurgical treatments. Instead of making a surgical incision, an interventional radiologist threads a narrow flexible tube called a catheter into a blood vessel or inserts a needle through the skin and uses imaging to guide the instrument to the desired location.
Diagnostic Uses
IR is most often used in treating conditions at the source, but it is also used in cardiac catheterization (or cardiac angiogram) to test blood flow through the coronary arteries and heart chambers. Angiograms can be done on other blood vessels, as well, to detect blockage and other conditions. Guided breast biopsies [link to page on this site] and fine-needle aspiration for tumors elsewhere is another diagnostic use that allows the IR specialist to insert a needle directly into the tumor and extract cells for biopsy.
Targeted Treatments
Because IR is typically less painful and requires shorter recovery times, it is increasingly considered in place of surgery for treating a number of conditions. The most common uses are to open or reinforce blood vessels, as in angioplasty for coronary artery disease or for peripheral arterial disease of the legs. In similar fashion, but using different techniques, interventional radiologists are called in to repair abdominal aortic aneurysms and for hemorrhagic strokes caused by brain aneurysms.
Other uses include targeted delivery of medications, such as chemotherapy directly into cancer tumors and clot dissolvers into blood clots for deep vein thrombosis. Another tumor treatment involves cutting off the blood supply, as is done in uterine fibroid embolization (UFE). IR also enables doctors to cut off the blood supply to correct varicose veins in the pelvic region, which can cause chronic pelvic pain, as well as to correct varicose veins in the legs through laser treatment.
IR treatments are not limited to catheter delivery. Imaging can also be used to guide a needle to deliver medication or to insert bone cement to repair vertebra compression fractures caused by osteoporosis. It is also used to pinpoint the location for ablation techniques that destroy nerve endings, tumors or tissue using a heated probe (radiofrequency ablation) or a freezing probe (cryoablation).
Rapid, Continuing Advances
Vascular and Interventional Radiology became a recognized medical subspecialty in 1995 and its specialists continue to pioneer innovative approaches to care through highly effective, minimally invasive treatments. With computer and imaging technologies continuing to advance at unprecedented speeds, the potential for new discoveries is exciting indeed.
Talk to Your Doctor
If your doctor refers you to an interventional radiologist, we encourage you to discuss any questions or concerns you have. Your Sutter IR specialist will also be happy to take the time to explain your procedure and answer questions, so you might want to jot down your questions before you arrive at your appointment.