Interventional Radiology (IR) – sometimes called Vascular and Interventional Radiology (VIR) – is a specialty within radiology, which offers therapeutic help, in addition to diagnosis applications, for many types of diseases throughout the body, and for pain management. IR procedures are minimally invasive, and offer patients less recovery time and risk than most surgical options.
IR treatments are precisely targeted and because they use a minimally invasive technique under MRI and ultrasound to guide a needle or catheter to the source of pain or disease, many procedures can be done on an outpatient basis. In some cases, the patient is even able to continue with their day as usual after their procedure. There are no large incisions to heal, and infection rates are significantly lower with minimally invasive procedures than with open surgery.
IR pain management techniques are very effective for many types of spine and neck pain and some types of musculoskeletal pain. Depending on the source of the pain, IR techniques may be used to diagnose, deliver pain relief, or, in some cases, treat the underlying cause while providing pain relief.
If you’re suffering from chronic or acute pain caused by a known injury or illness, Desert Medical Imaging offers many innovative types of IR treatments to provide you with effective pain management and, in some cases, eliminate the source of your pain altogether.
For more information on this and other radiology procedures, please visit www.radiologyinfo.org.
