Rome, 16 Jan. (Adnkronos Health) — To make patients aware of the potential of interventional radiology which is also a valid alternative to traditional surgery. This is one of the main objectives of the ‘Day without a scalpel’, an initiative that at the A. Gemelli Irccs University Hospital is now dedicated to interventional radiology, which supports and increasingly replaces traditional surgery, the one entrusted to the scalpel, an instrument used since the Stone Age, with flint and obsidian blades.The date of January 16 — reports a note — is borrowed from the American national day dedicated to interventional radiology, but the contents of the event organized today at the Gemelli testify to the level reached by this branch of radiology also in Italy.
‘Without a scalpel day’ is celebrated today in memory of the first surgery in history performed without a scalpel. It was January 16, 1964 when Charles T. Dotter performed the first peripheral angioplasty without resorting to the scalpel. The patient was spared the amputation of his leg and left the hospital after a few days, without even a plaster; For the rest of humanity, however, the era of interventional radiology was inaugurated. Since then, many advances have been made and today we speak more properly of minimally invasive, image-guided procedures (MIIP), which are used in the diagnostic field and for the treatment of a series of diseases: stroke, aneurysm, uterine fibroids, spine problems.But also in oncology these methods are finding more and more space: more precise procedures, because they are guided by images, without surgical wounds, therefore without the risk of infectious complications or ugly scars, with a very rapid recovery of the patient and a saving on hospitalization costs.
«For interventional radiology — explains Roberto Iezzi, associate professor of Radiology at the Catholic University, director of the Uos General Interventional Radiology Fondazione Policlinico Gemelli Irccs — we mean those procedures that use radiological approaches (ultrasound, fluoroscopy, CT and MRI) not only for diagnostic purposes, but also for therapeutic purposes». The procedures are divided into ‘percutaneous’ and ‘intra-arterial’ (respectively, approach through the skin or through an artery) and are carried out without surgical cuts, under local anesthesia or sedation. This implies for the patient a lower invasiveness, a very short hospitalization and a rapid resumption of normal daily activities. «To dominate in this field — recalls Iezzi — is interventional oncological radiology which, through thermoablation, chemo-embolization, radio-embolization treatments, is increasingly flanked by surgery, radiotherapy and chemo-immunotherapy in the treatment of patients».
Interventional radiology uses innovative instruments of ever smaller and more precise caliber; Essential for its success is also the technological innovation of radiological equipment. «Today — continues Iezzi — we have driving software that makes procedures more effective and safe. In the benign field, new embolization approaches are applied, for example, to benign gynecological (uterine fibroids, adenomyomas), urological (benign prostatic hypertrophy), vascular and abdominal (hemorrhodal disease) pathologies. Oncological applications mainly concern liver tumors, primary (hepatocarcinomas, cholangiocarcinomas) or secondary, i.e. liver metastases (from colorectal cancer, pulmonary, gynecological and urological). More recently, the indications have expanded to lung (primary or secondary) and renal cancers. Finally, the availability of small-caliber ablative devices has allowed us to intervene also on pancreatic and gynecological cancers».
Among the future prospects, that of associating these procedures with the new frontiers of oncology, in particular immunotherapy.»Our devices — anticipates Iezzi — will act as a carrier to bring oncological therapies directly to the tumor, to the organ, going to reduce adverse events and side effects and thus improving the quality of life of patients». «Every year at the Gemelli — recalls Luigi Natale, associate professor of Radiology at the Catholic University and director of the Thoracic and Cardio-vascular Radiology Unit Policlinico Gemelli — 3,500 to 4,000 interventional radiology procedures are carried out at the two radiology angiography rooms. From this year also the hybrid angiography room of Cemad will be used for procedures on patients with diseases of the digestive system».
For Evis Sala, professor of Radiology at the Catholic University, Rome campus and director of the Advanced Radiodiagnostic Center of the Gemelli Irccs University Polyclinic Foundation, interventional radiology «is a wonderful example of precision medicine: putting the patient at the center of multidisciplinary care and providing therapy through a cutting-edge interventional imaging procedure facilitated by artificial intelligence and augmented reality».
«It is important that patients know the potential of interventional radiology which also represents a valid alternative to traditional surgery — underlines Elisabetta Iannelli, vice president Aimac and general secretary of Favo (Italian Federation of Voluntary Associations in oncology) — in particular when this involves high risks for the health conditions or age of the patient, or when it cannot be used due to lack of tools and Technologies.Aimac, as part of the collaboration with Alliance against Cancer, has published an agile brochure that responds to the information needs of patients and explains what it is, when it is used and what are the interventional radiology treatments».
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Source — https://www.univadis.it/viewarticle/radiologia-interventistica-al-gemelli-roma-la-giornata-senza-bisturi