What Is Interventional Radiology?

Posted: Sept. 1, 2005

The landscape of medicine is constantly changing, and for the last 30 years, interventional radiologists have been responsible for much of the medical innovation and development of the minimally invasive procedures that are commonplace today. Interventional radiologists pioneered modern medicine with the invention of angioplasty and the catherer-delivered stent, which were the first used to treat peripheral arterial disease.

Angioplasty and stenting revolutionized medicine and led the way for the more widely known applications of coronary artery angioplasty and stenting that revolutionized the practice of cardiology. Today, many conditions that once required surgery can be treated nonsurgically by interventional radiologists. Through a small knick in the skin, they use tiny catheters and miniature instruments so small they can be run through a person’s network to treat at the site of illness internally, saving the patient from open, invasive surgery.

While no treatment is risk free, the risks of interventional procedures are far lower than the risks of open surgery, and are a major advance in medicine for patients.

Source: Society of Interventional Radiology

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