Vascular Interventional Radiology

Vascular Interventional Radiology at CVPH

Vascular Interventional Radiology is a rapidly growing area of medicine using x-rays, ultrasound and other medical images to perform minimally invasive procedures.

At CVPH, these procedures are performed in our new state-of-the-art Vascular Interventional Radiology Suite to diagnose and treat disease using a much less invasive option than other traditional methods. Patient benefits include a quicker recovery, less pain and reduced risk of complications. Many conditions that once required open surgery can now be treated non-surgically using Vascular Interventional Radiology’s targeted approach. 

Interventional Radiologists are medical doctors and involved in the treatment of the patient, as well as the diagnosis of disease. They treat an ever-widening range of conditions inside the body from outside the body by inserting various small instruments or tools, such as catheters or wires, through the blood vessels or other pathways to treat medical conditions, rather than surgery. This is performed with the use of various X-ray and imaging techniques (for example, fluoroscopy, ultrasonography or computed tomography).

Interventional Radiologists work closely with other doctors from most specialties and play an important role on your treatment team.

Benefits of Vascular Interventional Radiology

Vascular Interventional Radiology offers an alternative to the surgical treatment of many conditions and is generally easier for the patient because they involve small incisions, minimal pain and shorter recovery times. The use of tiny catheters or needles can do what a surgeon’s hands might traditionally do – but without a large incision. In some cases Interventional Radiologists can even perform procedures that aren’t possible with traditional surgery. For example, they can:

• Eliminate tumors without damaging the surrounding tissue
• Open up blocked blood vessels
• Perform biopsies using needles instead of scalpels
• There are fewer risks of complications, including infection, since there is no large incision. Recovery times are faster.  Many procedures can be performed on an outpatient basis, saving you time and the costs of an overnight hospital stay.

Procedures

Angiography - An X-ray of the arteries and veins to detect blockage or narrowing of the vessels. In many cases, the Interventional Radiologist can treat the blockages, such as those occurring in the arteries in the legs or kidneys, by inserting a small stent (tiny “scaffold” that prop open narrowed blood vessels) which inflates and opens the vessel. 

• Angioplasty and Stenting - A very small balloon is inflated to open a blocked artery through a thin catheter inserted through a small nick in your skin.

Thrombolysis – Breaking up and dissolving blood clots by delivering clot-busting medication through a catheter directly to the site of a thrombus (blood clot).

IVC Filters – Inferior Vena Cava filter placement to “catch” blood clots and prevent them from traveling to the lungs.

Venous Stenting – Placing stents (tiny “scaffolds” that prop open narrowed blood vessels) to treat deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or vein blockages.

Varicose Vein Treatment – Able to treat painful varicose veins with a specialized laser fiber. 

Image Guided Biopsy – Nonsurgical needle biopsies, replacing the need for surgical biopsy.

Image Guided Drainage – Aspiration (drainage) of abscesses and abnormal fluid collections.

Gastrostomy Tubes – A gastrostomy tube (feeding tube) is inserted into the stomach if the patient is unable to take food by mouth.

Embolization – The insertion of a substance through a catheter into a blood vessel to stop hemorrhaging or excessive bleeding.

Women’s Health – Embolization to block the blood supply to and shrink uterine fibroids. Possibly reducing the need for hysterectomy.  Gonadal vein embolization is another procedure where abnormal veins are blocked off to treat pelvic congestion syndrome; an often hard to diagnose condition which causes pelvic pain. 

Men’s Health – Embolization to treat varicoceles (a mass of varicose veins in the spermatic cord, which connect the testicles to the abdominal cavity).

Venous Access/Chest Ports – Portacath placement for chemotherapy, total parenteral nutrition and antibiotic delivery, eliminating the need for repeated needle sticks.

Vertebroplasty/Kyphoplasty – Injection of bone cement into vertebral fractures to relieve pain caused by compression fractures.

Interventional Oncology – Therapies to treat cancer:

• Cryoablation – A small needle delivers energy directly into the tumor by a probe that is inserted through the skin.
• Microwave Ablation 
• Radiofrequency Ablation
  Yttrium-90 – A catheter delivers tiny radioactive beads directly to a tumor through the bloodstream.
• TACE – Transarterial chemoembolization. Involves blocking (embolizing) blood vessels to cut off the blood supply to a tumor while directly injecting it with high doses of cancer-killing drugs (chemotherapy).
• TAE – Transarterial embolization. Blocks blood vessels to cut off the blood supply to a tumor without the use of chemotherapy.