In today’s era of personalized medicine, interventional radiology (IR) offers minimally invasive, targeted treatments using the body’s own vascular system to precisely deliver therapy. Requiring only a small nick in the skin to access the blood stream, specialized doctors known as interventional radiologists use x-ray or ultrasound imaging to navigate tiny catheters and miniature devices through the body’s arteries and veins to the source of the problem. Once there, they use their skills to treat the condition, then navigate the catheter in reverse and out of the body, placing a small band-aid over the spot where the catheter was inserted into the skin.
A patient will walk out of our center after being there for just a couple of hours, wearing the same clothes as they did on the way in. But despite their short time with us, the results they experience are significant and life-changing.
Not experimental. Clinically proven.
Interventional radiology isn’t new; it has been around since 1964.
In that year at a hospital in Oregon, an 82-year-old patient refused to have an amputation recommended to her due to gangrene on her lower leg. The gangrene resulted from a blocked artery that prevented the flow of blood to her lower leg. Dr. Charles Dotter theorized that her blocked artery could be treated from inside the blood vessel. He used a guide wire and a Teflon catheter, guided by fluoroscopic imaging, to widen the narrowed section of the superficial femoral artery in her leg. Blood circulation was restored, her leg healed and she was able to avoid the amputation.
A year earlier, Dr. Dotter was quoted as saying, “…the vascular catheter can be more than a tool for passive means for diagnostic observations: used with imagination it can become an important surgical instrument.”
“Imagination” was the appropriate word to describe this innovative approach to treating disease. Since then, dozens of treatments have become available, each clinically proven over time. Today, most interventional radiology treatments are covered by health insurance and Medicare. Interventional radiology procedures are performed in all the nation’s leading hospitals.
Minimally invasive means minimal risk.
The premise of interventional radiology is simple: Treat disease from inside the body, without the need to make large incisions. That means the patient can avoid the trauma associated with open surgery, along with the resulting scar.
Yes, most common surgeries are considered safe. But even a “safe” surgery carries risk. Infections, complications from general anesthesia and hospital readmissions are very real concerns. What’s more, some surgeries (such as knee and back surgery) have high failure rates and may require more surgery in the future. Some surgeries (such as myomectomy to treat fibroids in the uterus) work only temporarily; the likelihood of fibroids returning can be as high as 60% within five years. In addition, surgeries have long and sometimes painful recoveries that require several weeks from which to heal.
In contrast, most interventional radiology procedures offer comparable outcomes to surgery with less risk. All things being equal, wouldn’t you prefer less risk?
What conditions can be treated with IR?
The outpatient revolution
There was a time when nearly every surgical procedure was performed in a hospital. But that has changed. It became apparent that many interventional radiology treatments could be performed in an outpatient setting. Ambulatory surgery centers and office-based laboratories became the preferred locations for IR procedures, while hospitals focused their care on very sick patients.
This meant greater convenience for patients who received IR treatments, as well as better safety because they are not exposed to the potentially contagious individuals who must be cared for in a hospital. Furthermore, outpatient centers use the same advanced technology as at the hospital, along with highly skilled doctors and nurses to perform procedures.
Why people are choosing Interventional Radiology
- 8 out of 10 procedures use skin incisions smaller than 5 millimeters
- 9 out of 10 procedures use only local anesthetics, sometimes with sedation
- 9 out of 10 patients go home the same day
- It’s a far less invasive option than traditional surgical procedures
The future of medicine is here
Interventional radiology treatments are now available for every organ system in the body. Many of these therapies offer exciting advantages to patients and the doctors who care for them. At North Star Vascular and Interventional, we have the most comprehensive IR offering of any outpatient center in the region, with solutions for vascular disease, cancer, chronic pain, men’s and women’s genitourinary issues, thyroid disease, varicose veins and more.
When new treatments become available, chances are good that we will be the first to offer them. Our doctors are on the leading edge of the IR field, and in some cases, were the first to perform certain IR procedures in the United States. They have a reputation for excellence, innovation and for teaching other doctors how to perform these life-changing procedures for the benefit of patients like you.