Butler Health System | Health Link | Summer 2021

Did you know you can sometimes have surgery without incisions? Yes, it is possible, thanks to the medical specialty called interventional radiology (IR). IR is a way to perform minimally invasive surgical procedures with the help of medical imaging. Doc- tors use x-ray, CT, ultrasound or MRI pictures to guide the placement of small instruments, such as catheters, that carry surgical tools like needles, balloons, cutting devices and stents. Specialists insert the instruments into tiny openings, often in the groin or an arm, and then guide them through blood vessels, bile ducts, ureters and organs. IR is used to treat many conditions. It often has fewer risks and a shorter recovery time compared to traditional surgery. In most cases, you can go home the same day as your IR procedure. “Everything is done through small holes so that it’s very minimally invasive and we can get patients home quickly,” says Brandon Repko, MD, an interventional radiologist at Butler Health System. Cutting-edge therapies One IR procedure you’ve likely heard of is angioplasty, in which doctors use balloons and stents to open blocked arteries in the heart or legs. But IR has many other applications—from taking biopsies to treating uterine fibroids and fixing blocked bile ducts, varicose veins and spinal fractures. In addition to offering these and other procedures, the experts at BHS are at the forefront of recent IR innovations. “We have a pretty robust interventional radiology service line here, which means our patients don’t have to travel to faraway centers to get these services,” Dr. Repko says. Here are just a few of the innovative IR procedures being performed at BHS: Advanced vascular treatments. At the BHS Center for Advanced Vein Care, patients with vein diseases have access to laser treatments and other Brandon Repko, MD Medical Director of Nuclear Imaging and Therapeutic Services BHS Interventional Radiology One Hospital Way Butler, PA 16001 724-284-4574 Tiny cuts, big results state-of-the-art tools. For people with a prior blood clot in the leg (post deep-vein thrombosis, or DVT), the BHS team may use a variety of IR treatments designed to ease complications, such as skin discolor- ation, pain or open sores. Endovascular hemodialysis fistula. Patients receiving kidney dialysis need an access point to connect to the dialysis machine that cleans and filters their blood. Traditionally, a surgeon sews an artery to a vein in the arm to create a dialysis access called a fistula. “Recently, we’ve started making these fistulas without surgery,” Dr. Repko says. Through a nick in the arm, doctors thread catheters with magnets that pull the artery and vein together. They then cauterize the connection. This type of fistula may stay open longer, saving dialysis patients future surgeries. Prostatic artery embolization (PAE). Medica- tions and surgeries are common treatments for men with an enlarged prostate, an age-related condition that causes trouble urinating. For men with very large prostates, PAE may be another option for improving symptoms. An interven- tional radiologist uses a catheter to deliver particles that block blood vessels to the prostate, causing it to shrink. Cancer treatments. IR procedures are used for things like treating liver cancer with embolization and radioactive beads and controlling pain from meta- static spinal cancer. “Our interventional radiology service here at BHS is a highly specialized service that provides cutting- edge treatments,” Dr. Repko says. “It’s very unusual and ahead of its time for a community-hospital-based health system.” Learn the benefits of interventional radiology to treat a variety of conditions and diseases ButlerHealthSystem.org | 3