From the April 2018 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine

Trauma care
Emergency situations often require the use of interventional radiology to help save patients’ lives. In the past, patients with active bleeding would be sent to surgery, increasing the risk of morbidity and mortality. With the availability of interventional radiology 24 hours a day, this care is now invaluable in treating traumatic bleeding to stabilize patients so it is safe for a surgeon to go in and repair other damage caused by the trauma if necessary — or avoid surgery altogether.

“A rapid response time by the interventional radiology team is important to improve the outcomes of patients with severe trauma,” said Sue Ellen Hanks, M.D., FSIR, associate professor of clinical radiology at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. “Stopping hemorrhage through minimally invasive techniques has been shown to be a successful strategy that avoids unnecessary surgery and helps to minimize loss of organ function.”
Interventional radiology techniques such as embolization and stenting fit very well into trauma care protocols that emphasize non-operative management. But they have also largely replaced open surgery as the first-line approach to life-threatening bleeding from other causes, including gastrointestinal disorders, solid organs or childbirth. And, these same methods have been creatively harnessed by interventional radiologists beyond emergency care to provide patients with new treatment options for many chronic conditions including uterine fibroids, vascular disease, blood clots and many cancers.

This technology is constantly advancing, and the devices that are utilized will continue to get better, smaller and easier to use.

Stroke care
Through game-changing treatments such as thrombectomy, interventional radiologists have also been able to change the standard of care for stroke treatment and offer patients a better quality of life. Stroke care requires a multi-specialty team that includes many individuals with defined roles and must be provided within a very short time frame to be effective. The interventional radiologist has the background and training both to interpret brain imaging and to perform endovascular interventions and is available in many community hospitals where other specialists may not be present. Unfortunately, while thrombectomy is one of the most important treatments in reducing disability from stroke, it is not always available due to the limited number of stroke centers.

April 2018 Magazine

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