Radiology in Arizona

Interventional Radiology

Interventional Radiology is the medical specialty devoted to advancing patient care through the innovative integration of clinical and image-based diagnosis and minimally invasive therapy. Interventional Radiologists are medical doctors who have specialized in doing medical procedures that involve radiology imaging equipment. These procedures represent an advance in medicine that replace open surgical procedures. They are generally easier for the patient because they involve no large incisions, less risk, less pain and shorter recovery times.

Common Interventional Radiology Procedures:

ANGIOGRAPHY--An X-ray exam of the arteries and veins to diagnose blockages and other blood vessel problems; uses a catheter to enter the blood vessel and a contrast agent to make the artery or vein visible on the X-ray.

BALLOON ANGIOPLASTY--Opens blocked or narrowed blood vessels by inserting a very small balloon into the vessel and inflating it. Used by Interventional Radiologists to unblock clogged arteries in the legs or arms (called peripheral vascular disease or PVD), kidneys or elsewhere in the body.

BILIARY DRAINAGE AND STENTING--Uses a stent (small metallic mesh tube) to open up blocked ducts and allow bile to drain from the liver.

CENTRAL VENOUS ACCESS--Insertion of a catheter into a vein to, among other things, allow for the administration of medications or nutrients directly into the blood stream, facilitate blood draws, or provide an access for hemodialysis.

CHEMOEMBOLIZATION--Delivery of cancer-fighting agents directly to the site of a cancerous tumor; currently being used mostly to treat cancers that involve the liver.

EMBOLIZATION--Delivery of clotting agents directly to an area that is bleeding or to block blood flow to a problem area, such as a bleeding site involving the bowel or an aneurysm.

FALLOPIAN TUBE CATHETERIZATION--Uses a catheter to open blocked fallopian tubes without surgery; a treatment for infertility.

GASTROSTOMY TUBE--Feeding tube inserted directly into the stomach for patients who are unable to take sufficient food by mouth.

HEMODIALYSIS ACCESS MAINTENANCE--Use of angioplasty or thrombolysis to open blocked grafts and fistulas in patients receiving hemodialysis for kidney failure. 

RADIOFREQUENCY (RF) ABLATION--Use of radiofrequency energy to cook and kill tumors.

STENT--A small flexible tube made of plastic or metallic wire mesh, used to treat a variety of medical conditions (e.g., to hold open clogged blood vessels or other pathways that have been narrowed or blocked by tumors or obstructions).

STENT-GRAFT--Reinforces and treats a ballooned section of an artery (an aneurysm) with a fabric-wrapped stent. Also known as an endograft.

THROMBOLYSIS--Dissolves blood clots by injecting clot-busting drugs at the site of the clot.

TIPS (TRANSJUGULAR INTRAHEPATIC PORTOSYSTEMIC SHUNT)--A life-saving procedure to improve blood flow and prevent hemorrhage as well as reduce ascites in patients with severe liver dysfunction.

UTERINE FIBROID EMBOLIZATION--An embolization procedure of the uterine arteries to shrink painful, bleeding, enlarged benign tumors in the uterus.