Interventional Radiology in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow

Interventional radiology is the use of imaging to guide a needle, or a thin flexible tube called a catheter, to the exact place that needs attention. Ultrasound or live X-ray pictures show the doctor where the instrument is at every moment. The doctor works through a needle hole or a cut of a few millimetres, not an open operation.

A diagnostic scan, such as an ultrasound or an X-ray, looks and reports. An interventional procedure acts. It may take a sample from a lump, drain a collection of fluid or open a narrowed vessel. It may also block the blood supply to a tumour or place a line for long-term treatment.

Because something is done to you rather than only looked at, a procedure needs more preparation than a scan. You hear the benefits, the risks and the alternatives, and you give consent first. Whether any sedation or anaesthesia is needed, where it would be given and by whom, is confirmed for each case after the review.

Planning starts with paperwork and images, not a needle. The team reads your referral and looks at your earlier scans and reports. It checks your recent blood tests, your current medicines and any allergies. Then it works out four things.

• Is it needed? Whether the procedure answers your doctor's question, or treats the problem better than the alternatives.
• Is it safe for you? Whether the images show a clear path to the target, and whether your blood counts, clotting and general health allow it.
• Where should it be done? Whether the procedure can be carried out at the centre or is better done elsewhere. This is confirmed only after the review.
• Who will do it? The responsible team is also confirmed for each case.

You hear the answer before any date is fixed. Sometimes another test, another procedure or no procedure at all is the better choice, and the team will say so.

Bring everything that tells the story of the problem. Reports are useful, but the images themselves are better, because the radiologist can look at them directly.

• The referral or prescription from the doctor who advised the procedure.
• Earlier scans, such as ultrasound or X-ray, on film, on a disc or on your phone, with their reports.
• Recent blood tests, especially blood counts, liver and kidney tests and clotting tests.
• A list of all your medicines with doses. Mark any blood thinners, aspirin, insulin or diabetes tablets.
• Earlier biopsy or pathology reports and hospital discharge papers.
• A relative or friend who can listen with you and travel home with you.

We do not have an MRI or CT scanner, so your doctor will advise where to have one, and we can review the images and report.

To book a first visit, message the centre on WhatsApp or call 0522-3180995. Send the prescription first if you can, and the team will tell you what else to bring. Do not stop any prescribed medicine yourself. If you take a blood thinner, tell the team and your doctor, who decide together whether anything should change.