Interventional Radiology

Interventional Radiology is a medical speciality that uses the various imaging and scanning facilities available to offer a range of minimally invasive procedures which in many cases can replace conventional open surgery. Most of the procedures are done under local anaesthetic and can be done either as day case procedures or require only a very short hospital stay with rapid return to normal activities.

Advances in diagnostic imaging allowed the development of Interventional Radiology as a speciality from the mid 1970s. Advances in scanning and medical device technologies over recent years have seen a huge increase in the scope and ability of Interventional Radiology to treat a wide variety of conditions. These range from angioplasty and stenting of narrowed arteries to treating tumours by embolisation or blocking the blood supply. The speciality is at the cutting edge of application of new technologies to treat disease conditions that in the past may have required major surgical procedures with prolonged recovery times.