Embolization is a non-surgical, minimally-invasive procedure performed by an interventional radiologist. It involves the selective occlusion of blood vessels by purposely introducing emboli.
Therapeutic applications
Embolisation is used to treat a wide variety of conditions affecting different organs of the human body.
Hemorrhage
The treatment is used to occlude:
- Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs)
- Cerebral aneurysm
- Gastrointestinal bleeding
- Epistaxis
- Primary post-partum hemorrhage
- Surgical hemorrhage
- Uterine fibroids
Growths
The treatment is used to slow or stop blood supply thus reducing the size of the tumour:
- Kidney lesions
- Liver lesions, typically hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Treated either by particle infarction or transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE).
- Uterine fibroids
Other