When appropriate, interventional radiologists at UCLA Medical Center and Santa Monica – UCLA Medical Center use advanced imaging techniques and tiny and specialized instruments to perform a variety of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures that might otherwise require open surgery.

These minimally invasive procedures result in less pain and faster recovery times than traditional surgery and can expose patients to less risk. Often performed as outpatient procedures without the need for general anesthesia, patients usually spend fewer days recuperating in the hospital. Three of the department's team members, Ron Gore, RN, Monica Caramian, RN, and Ed Quezada, interventional radiology technician, observe that "interventional radiology equals modern convenience with cutting-edge technology."

Depending on the type of procedure, interventional radiologists use angiography, computed tomographic angiography, magnetic resonance angiography, and ultrasound to guide their instruments inside the patient’s body. “We can address a long list of procedures and problems with the appropriate form of interventional radiology,” says Stephen Kee, MD, chief of the UCLA Interventional Radiology Program. This includes:

• Treating back pain
• Stopping blood leakage
• Opening clogged veins
• Treating cancer by delivering therapeutic drugs directly to the tumor
• Using radiofrequency energy to destroy cancer cells and shrinking fibroid tumors or varicose veins by cutting off their blood supply
• Treating many other conditions, including liver and kidney disease.

As imaging techniques and instruments continue to refine and their scope of applications expands, look for more UCLA patients to benefit from these interventions.