Interventional Radiology Services
Mountain Medical offers interventional radiology, a medical sub-specialty of radiology which utilizes minimally-invasive image-guided procedures to diagnose and treat diseases in nearly every organ system. Many of these procedures are done in a hospital setting, however some available in our clinics or outpatient centers.
The concept behind interventional radiology is to diagnose and treat patients using the least invasive techniques currently available in order to minimize risk to the patient and improve health outcomes. Many conditions that once required surgery can now be treated non-surgically by interventional radiologists. By minimizing the physical trauma to the patient, interventional radiology can reduce infection rates and recovery time.
Patients along the Wasatch Front, including Logan, Ogden, Layton, Bountiful, Salt Lake City, Murray, Park City, Tooele, Sandy, Draper and Provo choose Mountain Medical for interventional radiology services.
We offer the following interventional radiology treatments:
Angioplasty and Vascular Stenting
Angioplasty and vascular stenting is performed to improve blood flow in the body’s arteries and veins. In angioplasty and vascular stenting, imagining techniques are used to guide a balloon-tipped catheter into an artery or vein and advance it to where the vessel is narrow or blocked. The balloon is then inflated to open the vessel, deflated and removed. We offer angioplasty and vascular stenting for the following regions of the body: heart and vascular.
Intravascular Angiogram
An intravascular angiogram is used to examine the blood vessels and the organs supplied by them in the body. The procedure is performed most frequently on the coronary artery. Our radiologists use this procedure to diagnose and evaluate diseases in the blood vessels caused by injury, aneurysms, blockages, tumors, and other abnormalities. An intravascular angiogram can also be used to examine blood flow after surgery.
Biliary Interventions
Biliary interventions are performed to treat blockages or narrowing in bile ducts. If bile ducts become blocked, bile cannot pass into the intestine and this may result in jaundice (the level of bile products in the blood become elevated). This can cause severe problems such as inflammation of the pancreas, or the gallbladder.
Biopsies
A biopsy is a medical test commonly performed to remove sampling of cells or tissues for examination to determine the presence or extent of a disease. The tissue is generally examined under a microscope and can also be analyzed chemically. There are multiple types of biopsies including excisional biopsy, incisional or core biopsy and needle aspiration biopsy. We conduct many types of biopsy. Our interventional radiology focuses on the spine, chest, abdomen, and soft tissue.
Catheter Angiography
Catheter angiography is used to examine blood vessels in key areas of the body. In catheter angiography, a thin plastic tube called a catheter is inserted into an artery through a small incision in the skin. Once the catheter is guided to the area being examined, a contrast material is injected through the tube and images are captured using a small dose of ionizing radiation. Catheter angiography can identify abnormalities in the blood vessels such as an aneurysm, detect artery disease, detect injury to arteries, and evaluate obstructions of blood vessels.
Catheter Embolization
In a catheter embolization procedure, medications or synthetic materials called embolic agents are placed through a catheter into one or more blood vessels blocking abnormal blood flow. Catheter embolization is performed to control or prevent abnormal bleeding for injuries, tumors or lesions. It can also be used to control abnormal bleeding in long or heavy menstrual periods, treat uterine fibroids, cut off vessels supplying blood to a tumor, treat aneurysms and treat enlarged veins.
Cerebral Angiography
In cerebral angiography, a thin plastic tube called a catheter is inserted into an artery in the leg or arm through a small incision in the skin. Using X-ray guidance the catheter is navigated to the area being examined. Once there, contrast material is injected through the tube and images are captured using a small dose of ionizing radiation. Cerebral angiography is used to detect or confirm abnormalities within the blood vessels in the brain including aneurysms, narrowing of arteries, disruptions in normal blood flow in the brain and inflammation of the blood vessels. The procedure can also detect tumors, blood clots, or a tear in the lining of the artery or a stroke.
Dialysis and Fistula/ Graft Declotting and Interventions
Dialysis fistula/graft declotting interventions are minimally invasive procedures performed to improve blood flow in the fistula and grafts placed in the blood vessels of dialysis patients. When blockage occurs in the fistula or graft, it can prevent a patient from undergoing dialysis, a process used to treat patients whose kidneys are not working properly. Interventional radiologists can use two image-guided procedures to fix the problem: Catheter directed thrombolysis or Angioplasty and vascular stenting.
Inferior Vena Cava Filter Placement and Removal
In an inferior vena cava filter placement procedure, a filter is placed in the inferior vena cava (IVC), the large vein in the abdomen that returns blood from the lower body to the heart. An IVC filter traps large clot fragments and prevents them from traveling through the vena cava vein to the heart and lungs where they could cause severe complications.
Percutaneous Abscess Drainage
Percutaneous abscess drainage is used to treat an abscess, an infected fluid collection within the body. Signs of an abscess include fever, chills and pain in the location of the abscess. In percutaneous abscess drainage, a thin needle is placed in the abscess to remove or drain the infected fluid from an area of the body.
Ureteral Stenting and Nephrostomy Tube Placement
During ureteral stenting and nephrostomy tube placement, image guidance is used to place stents or tubes in the ureter to restore the flow of urine to the bladder. Urine is normally carried from the kidneys to the bladder through long, narrow tubes called ureters. The ureter can become obstructed due to conditions such as kidney stones, tumors, infection, or blood clots.
Varicose Vein Treatment (Endovenous)
Varicose vein treatment or endovenous laser ablation is a treatment that uses radiofrequency to burn and collapse abnormally enlarged veins in the legs, a condition called varicose veins. Normally, blood circulates from the heart to the legs via arteries and back to the heart through the veins. Veins contain one-way valves which allow blood to return from the legs against gravity. If the valves leak, blood pools in leg veins which creates varicose veins. Learn more about Varicose Vein Treatment.
Vascular Access Procedures
A vascular access procedure involves the insertion of a flexible thin plastic tube, or catheter, into a blood vessel to provide an effective method of drawing blood or delivering medications and nutrients into a patient’s bloodstream over a period of weeks, months or even years. Vascular access procedures are performed when patients need intravenous antibiotic treatment, chemotherapy, long-term intravenous feeding, repeated drawing of blood samples, or hemodialysis.
Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty
Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty are used for the treatment of vertebral compression fractures, which are fractures involving the vertebral bodies that make up the spinal column. With the use of image guidance, a cement mixture is injected into fractured bone through a hollow needle. The procedure may be performed on patients who are too elderly or frail to tolerate open spine surgery and patients who have vertebral compression due to a malignant tumor or suffer from osteoporosis due to long-term steroid treatment or metabolic disorder. Learn more Vertebroplasty and Kyphoplasty.
