Interventional Radiology
Interventional radiology is a special kind of medical care. It's a way of helping people with illnesses inside their bodies without needing to do big surgeries. Instead of big cuts, doctors use fancy tools and special techniques to figure out what's wrong and fix it. And guess what? It's way less painful and safer than regular surgery. Plus, you get better faster! Sometimes, it even means you can skip staying in the hospital altogether.
An interventional radiologist is a doctor who knows all about using machines like X-rays, CT scans, and ultrasound to do surgeries that are super tiny. Instead of big openings, they use small cuts or pokes to fix things up inside your body.
These doctors are like detectives, using these machines to find where the problem is and then using tiny tools like catheters and wires to fix it. They work closely with other doctors, like surgeons and cancer specialists, to make sure you get the best care possible.
Some of the procedures that interventional radiologists perform include:
- Angiography: A procedure that uses X-ray images to visualize the blood vessels and diagnose and treat conditions such as aneurysms, blockages, and blood clots.
- Angioplasty: A procedure that uses a small balloon to widen narrowed or blocked blood vessels.
- Embolization: A procedure that uses small particles or a liquid substance to block or reduce blood flow to an area of the body.
- Stenting: A procedure that uses a small mesh-like tube to support the walls of a narrowed or blocked blood vessel.
- Thrombolysis: A procedure that uses medication to dissolve blood clots.
- Biopsies: A procedure that involves taking a small sample of tissue from an organ or other structure in the body for examination.