Interventional Radiology

Overview

Advances in Interventional Radiology

Interventional radiology is continually changing the way we practice medicine. Sometimes called the surgery of the 21st century, interventional radiology allows doctors to treat a variety of medical disorders without surgery. For the patient, this results in procedures that are generally less costly and less traumatic, involve smaller incisions, less pain and shorter hospital stays. Doctors trained in interventional radiology use X-rays and other imaging techniques to "see" inside the body while they guide narrow tubes or catheters and other very small instruments through the blood vessels and other pathways of the body to the site of a problem. Physicians at The Nebraska Medical Center perform a variety of interventional radiology procedures to bring you the latest advancements in medical technology.

Interventional radiology procedures

Angiography - This procedure involves an X-ray exam of the arteries and veins to diagnose blockages and other blood vessel problems. This X-ray procedure is also called an angiogram. During the angiogram, the doctor inserts a catheter into the artery through a small nick in the skin about the size of the tip of a pencil. A substance called a contrast agent is injected to make the blood vessels visible on the X-ray. In many cases, the
interventional radiologist can treat a blocked blood vessel without surgery at the same time the angiogram is performed with techniques such as angioplasty and thrombolysis.

Additional reasons to perform an angiogram:
aneurysms - an area of a blood vessel that bulges or balloons out
cerebral vascular disease such as stroke or bleeding in the brain
blood vessel malformations
to diagnose problems not resolved by other tests or to help surgeons
plan an operation or choose the best surgical procedure.

Venography - a type of X-ray call angiography in which a thin needle, tube or catheter is threaded into the blood vessels. A contrast agent or dye, is injected through the catheter to highlight the vein and pinpoint any abnormalities.