Interventional Radiology

Advancements in medical imaging and the availability of minimally invasive techniques, enables our physicians to pinpoint the exact area of treatment, minimizing the effect on surrounding tissue while also reducing risk, pain and recovery time for patients.

Interventional radiology can be used as the primary treatment to perform biopsies, destroy tumors, prevent bleeding during surgery or minimize pain and side effects caused by cancer or cancer treatment. Interventional radiology techniques are also used to diagnose cancer, drain infections or excess fluid in the chest/abdomen, or to place chest ports for patients receiving chemotherapy.

One interventional radiology treatment option includes chemoembolization, where chemotherapy is administered through a catheter along with a blood vessel blocking agent directly to the site of the tumor. Based on the location of the tumor and type of malignancy, other common treatments include cryoablation, microwave ablation, radio frequency ablation and radioembolization, all used to destroy the tumor.

CHI St. Alexius Health Bismarck is the first in the state to perform a transhepatic lithotripsy for gallstones. This minimally invasive procedure zaps gallstones into pieces small enough to remove through a tube about the size of a drinking straw. This allows for a quicker recovery and may be an option for patients who are otherwise too sick to have the gallbladder surgically removed. 

There are now minimally invasive treatments available for men diagnosed with an enlarged prostate. Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is the non-cancerous growth of the prostate gland, causing the prostate to be enlarged putting men at risk for developing urinary tract infections, bladder stones, blood in the urine and incontinence. BPH affects approximately 50 percent of men in their 50s and as many as 90 percent of men in their 70s and 80s.

With a new treatment referred to as prostate artery embolization, our interventional radiology and urology teams are able to improve patient symptoms by decreasing blood flow to the prostate reducing BPH symptoms. This minimally invasive procedure involves injecting small beads into the blood vessels of the prostate using a catheter threaded through an artery in the groin or wrist. This blocks the blood flow to specific areas of the prostate, depriving those prostate cells of oxygen and results in shrinkage of the prostate gland. CHI St. Alexius Health’s Interventional Radiologists work closely with urologists to offer innovative, minimally invasive treatment with less risk, less pain, and less recovery time than traditional surgery.

Symptomatic varicoceles is an enlarged vein in the scrotum that may cause pain, swelling or reduced fertility in men. Varicoceles are common and occur in about 15 percent of males, most prevalent between ages 15 and 25. Our interventional radiology team offers varicocele embolization, a nonsurgical procedure blocking the veins that form the varicocele. This minimally invasive procedure involves injecting an embolic agent using a catheter threaded through a vein in the groin or neck, reducing blood flow.

In the past, there were limited treatment options available for patients who woke up and experienced a stroke. These limitations were a result of not knowing exactly how long the symptoms had been present, limiting the number of patients who would benefit from a thrombectomy. A thrombectomy is a procedure performed by an interventional radiologist to remove a blood clot from a blood vessel. This procedure involves your physician threading a catheter through an artery in your groin up to your brain. Once the catheter is in place, the doctor uses a tiny device to remove the clot.

The American Heart Association and American Stroke Association recently approved new treatment guidelines for patients who have experienced a stroke. The prior treatment window for mechanical thrombectomy (clot removal) was six hours. However, based on this groundbreaking research, select patients with salvageable brain tissue identified through advanced imaging, such as provided by the RAPID platform, can benefit from a thrombectomy for up to 24 hours after stroke symptoms begin. CHI St. Alexius Health Bismarck is the first and only hospital in North Dakota to implement the RAPID imaging platform.

This is significant not only for Bismarck but also for the rural communities across North Dakota that transfer their patients to CHI St. Alexius Health for care when time is critical. CHI St. Alexius Health Bismarck was the first designated Primary Stroke Center in North Dakota and is proud to hold that certification today.

Specialty-trained providers can put you on the path to active, attractive, pain free legs. Venous insufficiency, otherwise known as varicose veins can occur in anyone and can result in leg symptoms other than appearance.

Varicose and spider veins are enlarged, twisted veins near the surface of the skin. Our interventional radiologists can provide a variety of treatment options to provide relief from painful and unsightly varicose veins.

Sclerotherapy is a procedure where a fine needle is used to inject a vein-shrinking solution into veins near the skin. Over a period of time this therapy will improve and or eliminate the appearance of the veins.

Endovenous Laser Treatment, performed under local anesthesia involves your physician threading a catheter into your vein where a laser probe is inserted, causing the vein to collapse and eventually dissolve into surrounding body tissue.

Ambulatory phlebectomy is an outpatient procedure generally used on veins too large to treat with sclerotherapy but too small to treat with endovenous laser treatment. This procedure involves your physician making small incisions in the leg causing the veins to collapse, making them easy to remove via the incisions. This procedure can be performed in combination with Endovenous Laser treatment when needed.

The interventional radiology team at CHI St. Alexius Health is committed to providing specialized, minimally invasive treatments for many common women’s health conditions. With the first female interventional radiologist in the state, our team is committed to providing highly specialized interventional services for women.

Uterine artery embolization is now an alternative to a hysterectomy for women suffering from painful uterine fibroids. This procedure involves your physician making a small incision in the groin and injecting tiny plastic or gelatin sponge particles through a catheter, cutting off blood flow to the fibroid, causing it to shrink.

Interventional radiology can also be used to treat chronic pelvic pain caused by varicose veins that have formed within the pelvic region. This condition, known as pelvic congestion syndrome, is most prevalent in women between the ages of 20-50 with a history of multiple pregnancies. Embolization, a procedure much less invasive than surgery involves sealing the damaged blood vessel, stopping blood flow and engorgement. Once the vein is sealed, tiny coils are released to block blood flow relieving pain and/or discomfort.

• Angiography and Arterial/Venous Interventions (atherectomy, thrombectomy, angioplasty and stenting)
• Aortic aneurysm repair
• Acute ischemic Stroke Thrombectomy
• Embolization in the setting of acute bleeding
• Elective Embolization:
  • Uterine Fibroid Embolization
  • Prostate Artery Embolization
  • Splenic Embolization for thrombocytopenia
  • Arteriovenous malformations and aneurysm embolization
  • Benign tumor embolization (hepatic hemangioma and renal angiomyolipoma)
• TIPS placement for cirrhosis
• Gastric varices treatment (BRTO/PARTO/CARTO)
• Venography and IVC filter placement
• Thrombolysis for deep venous thrombosis
• Pelvic Congestion Syndrome Treatment
• Chemoembolization and Radioembolization of Tumors
• Cryoablation and Microwave Ablation of Tumors
• Radio frequency ablation
• Port Placement with sedation (not anesthesia)
• Image guided Needle/Fiducial marker placement for surgery
• Image Guided Percutaneous Biopsies
• Endovenous Varicose Vein Treatments
• Phlebectomy
• Spider vein sclerotherapy
• Fistulograms
• Gastrostomy/Jejunostomy feeding tube insertion
• Kyphoplasty and Vertebroplasty
• Chest port placement for chemotherapy
• Tunneled Catheter Insertion (for antibiotics or dialysis)
• PICC (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) Line Insertion
• Image guided doing aspirations and injections
• Thoracentesis and chest tube insertion
• Ultra sound guided paracentesis
• Abscess Drainage or Aspiration
• Biliary Drainage Catheter Placement
• Nephrostomy drainage catheter/nephroureteral stent placement
• Suprabupic urinary catheter placement
• Epidural steroid injections
• Myelograms
• Blood patch