Interventional Radiologist Questions Interventional Radiology

What is an angioplasty like through interventional radiology?

I need to have an angioplasty, and my doctor would rather do this through interventional radiology because it's less invasive. What is the procedure going to involve?

2 Answers

They usually puncture the groin into the femoral artery so there is no incision, then place a catheter through the artery and inflate a balloon and place a stent. It's an out-patient procedure with local anesthesia.
An angioplasty procedure means vessel plasty. The interventional radiologist uses image guidance which includes ultrasound and X rays to guide an angioplasty balloon into a narrowed blood vessel usually an artery. The balloon is inflated within the narrowed diseased segment of the vessel to increase the luminal diameter in the area of narrowing. In some cases angioplasty also includes placement of a wall stent to keep the narrowed segment patent and to reduce the chance of re-stenosis. However, the placement of the stent may require lifetime anticoagulation with medicines such as placid.