Jornal de Radiologia Clínica e Experimental

Interventional radiology

Interventional Radiology
Interventional radiology is a medical sub-specialty of radiology utilizing minimal invasive imaging techniques to treat or diagnose the illness in nearly every organ system. The aim behind interventional radiology is to diagnose and treat patients using the least invasive techniques currently available in order to minimize risk to the patient and improve health outcomes. These procedures have less risk, less pain and less recovery time in comparison to open surgery. For example- Angioplasty, Stenting, Atherectomy, Cryoplasty, Thrombolysis, and Embolization etc. There are two kinds of interventional techniques being performed i.e. vascular and non-vascular. Non-vascular intervention is used to treat the benign carcinomas. Generally IR is used to treat conditions like tumours, to suppress the effect of cancerous cells on other systems, to drain out the pus being formed in chest or abdomen parts etc. Non-vascular intervention is also referred as intervention oncology. Many IR procedure starts with inserting a needle through the skin to reach the targeted area. Therefore it is also called as pinehole surgery.