Interventional Radiology

Interventional Radiology at AHN Saint Vincent Hospital uses minimally invasive techniques to diagnose and treat a wide range of conditions.

Interventional radiologists use medical imaging, like ultrasounds, X-rays, and MRI, to guide small instruments through blood vessels or other pathways in the body. These minimally invasive procedures allow us to diagnose and treat conditions that used to require open surgery with less pain, risk, and recovery time.

Interventional radiology services at AHN Saint Vincent Hospital: Why choose us

Our comprehensive interventional radiology services offer a wide range of benefits, including:

• Faster recovery: With shorter procedures, you'll stay in the hospital for less time and usually recover faster than if you had traditional surgery.
• Less pain and fewer complications: Using minimally invasive techniques lowers your risk of complications during the procedure and pain after the procedure.
• Quick scheduling: We can schedule most consultations and procedures within two weeks. You can also be seen without a referral.

What we treat with interventional radiology (IR)

Our skilled interventional radiologists diagnose and treat a wide range of diseases and conditions.

Vascular procedures

Our interventional radiologists can perform the following procedures to diagnose and treat blood vessel conditions:

• Aneurysm coiling: This procedure treats bulges in your blood vessels (aneurysms) located in your spleen, kidney, or other organs in your abdomen.
• Embolization: This minimally invasive medical procedure involves intentionally blocking a blood vessel to stop bleeding, cut off blood supply to a tumor, or treat conditions like:
  • Uterine fibroids (noncancerous growths in the uterus) that cause heavy bleeding and pelvic pain.
  • Enlarged veins in the scrotum (varicocele), which can cause pain and infertility.
  • Enlarged veins in the pelvis and ovaries (pelvic congestion syndrome).
  • Hemorrhoids
• Venous access and interventions: These procedures create or maintain access to your veins to help with medication delivery, including:
  • Port placement for chemotherapy treatment, poor IV access, or frequent transfusions.
  • Central line (PICC) placement for IV antibiotics, nutrition delivery, or chemotherapy treatment.
  • Tunneled PICC placement for patients with kidney failure that protects veins in the upper arm.
  • Stenting to open blocked or narrowed veins and improve blood flow.
  • Treatment for serious blood clots like deep vein thrombosis (DVT), particularly when blood thinners aren't working.
  • Placement of a filter in the inferior vena cava (IVC) to prevent blood clots from traveling to your lungs.

Vertebral augmentation procedures

Our interventional radiologists can perform the following vertebral augmentation procedures to treat back pain related to compression fractures in your spine:

• Vertebroplasty: A procedure where bone cement is injected directly into the fracture to help stabilize the vertebra and relieve pain.
• Kyphoplasty: A procedure that uses a balloon to create a space within the vertebra before injecting bone cement, which can restore some height and help correct the angle of the fracture.
• Radiofrequency kyphoplasty (RFK): A procedure that involves creating channels within the fractured vertebra with radiofrequency energy instead of using a balloon. This helps preserve more of the healthy bone.

Cancer treatment and related therapies

Our interventional radiologists use minimally invasive procedures to target tumors directly and minimize damage to surrounding healthy tissue. This includes:

• Tumor ablation: We use cryoablation (freezing) or microwave ablation (heat) to treat tumors in the kidney and liver.
• Embolization therapies: To treat liver cancer or masses, we use:
  • Y90 radioembolization, which delivers radioactive beads directly to liver tumors.
  • Transarterial chemoembolization (TACE), which delivers chemotherapy directly to liver tumors.
• Drainage procedures to remove fluid from the body, including:
  • Paracentesis (removing fluid from the abdomen).
  • Thoracentesis (removing fluid from the chest).
  • Biliary draining (draining bile from the bile ducts).
  • Abscess drainage (draining pus from an infection).
  • Nephrostomy (draining urine from the kidney).
• Pain management procedures including nerve blocks, celiac plexus block, and bone cement injections.

Guided biopsies

Our interventional radiologists use computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound to guide biopsy procedures in the lungs, liver, kidneys, adrenal gland, thyroid, soft tissue, bone, lymph nodes, or fluid.

Sclerotherapy

Sclerotherapy is a minimally invasive procedure used to treat symptomatic simple cysts in the kidney or liver. Our interventional radiologists first drain fluid from the cyst, then inject a sclerosing agent to harden the cyst's lining and stop more fluid from gathering. Sclerotherapy can be an effective alternative to surgery, especially for painful cysts.

Contact us

Patients

If you have a referral for a specific procedure from another provider, you can call our clinic directly to schedule. Our provider will review the referral and determine if you need a consultation appointment or more imaging before scheduling the procedure.

If you do not have a referral, you can schedule a clinic visit with David Petrov, MD, or his physician's assistant for a consultation and follow-up care.

Providers

You can refer your patient to our clinic by:

• Calling (833) 847-7231.
• Sending an external order or referral via fax to 610-871-6393.
• Creating an EPIC order for IR Ambulatory Referral – Attn: Dr. David Petrov.

Where to find us

AHN Cancer Institute – Saint Vincent Hospital
2508 Myrtle Street, Floor 2
Erie, PA 16502
GET DIRECTIONS