What can I expect from interventional radiology?
By using IR rather than traditional surgery, patients generally are exposed
to less radiation and the procedures are much less taxing. General
anesthesia is usually not required. This usually results in less
impact on the body, shorter hospital stays and shorter recovery periods.
As an example, there are two ways to treat significant carotid narrowing:
| A. |
Open Surgical Repair. This requires a vertical
incision on the neck, general anesthesia, several days of hospitalization
and several weeks of recovery time. |
| |
|
| B. |
Endovascular Repair (IR). A small tube is threaded through
the area of narrowing and deployed with an embolic protection
filter to prevent stroke. The patient is home within 24 hours,
with a 50% reduction in chance of major or minor stroke, as compared
to an endarterectomy. |
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