Dialysis access management

Renal failure

A situation in which the kidneys fail to adequately remove waste from the bloodstream. When this occurs, toxins build up in the body and become very harmful. Patients who are diagnosed with this disease may be placed on dialysis. For someone to receive dialysis, there needs to be an effective way for them to handle adequate blood flow for the most effective treatment. This is where our dialysis access management procedures come into play.

Our procedures:

• A-V graft and fistual monitoring

• Salvage and management of the failing graft or fistula

ARTERIAL disease

Peripheral Artery Disease (PAD)

PAD occurs when arteries become partly or completely blocked with plaque. Such blockages restrict blood flow, which interferes with the delivery of oxygen and nutrients that your muscles and organs need to work properly. You may experience leg pain, or claudication, when you are physically active.

Our procedures:

Angioplasty

A catheter with a balloon on the tip is inserted to the narrowed artery. The balloon then inflates, which moves the plaque to the artery walls and restores blood flow. Depending on your condition, the IR might put a stent in your artery, which helps keeps the artery open.

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms (AAA)

An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is an abnormal bulge in the wall of the aorta—the body's largest arterial trunk—which carries blood from the heart to be distributed by branch arteries through the body. The aneurysm is caused by a weakened area in the main vessel that supplies blood from the heart to the rest of the body. MIMIT physicians can treat aneurysms either minimally invasively or surgically.

Our procedures:

Minimally Invasive Endovascular Stenting

After making a small incision in the groin, a special graft is inserted into the aneurysm and deployed. This graft acts as a pipe connecting the healthy vessel above and below the aneurysm. This prevents blood from entering the aneurysm sac, which reduces the risk of it rupturing.

VENOUS disease

Varicose and spider veins

Varicose veins are enlarged, bulging veins usually found in the leg. They often appear twisted and cord-like, and tend to be blue to dark purple in color. They occur when a vein is partially blocked or when the tiny valves inside the vein become weak. This means blood stays in the legs and cannot return to the heart, thus making the veins swell. You may experience cramping, restless legs, worsened pain after sitting or standing for a long time, itching, skin discoloration, burning, throbbing, cramping, or swelling.

Our procedures:

Varithena

This is a treatment used to treat varicose veins. It’s not painful, doesn’t require sedation, and the procedure is quick. First, a microfoam called Varithena is injected into your legs. The foam causes the varicose vein to collapse, and blood is redirected to nearby healthy veins. After the procedure, you can usually leave the same day. Note: there may be some discomfort, bruising, or pain after the procedure.

Laser ablation

After the interventional radiologist uses ultrasound to find the location of the vein, a fiber or electrode is placed at that location by means of a small incision. Then, local anesthesia is injected into the tissues around the vein to collapse the vein around the fiber or electrode to act as insulation for the energy's heat. Heat is generated through the electrode, thus causing it to close. Following the procedure, the faulty vein will shrink.

Sclerotherapy

This procedure is usually an outpatient procedure. Using a very thin needle, the vein-dissolving solution is injected into the affected veins. Each session typically results in the elimination of 50-80% of the injected veins and lasts 30-45 minutes.

GYNECOLOGIC AND INFERTILITY

Uterine fibroids

Uterine fibroids are benign (non-cancerous) tumors that grow on or within the muscle tissue of the uterus. There are different types of fibroids, and the size can range from the size of a walnut to as large as a cantaloupe or even larger! Approximately
20-40% of women 35 years and older have fibroid tumors.

Procedures include:

Uterine fibroid embolization (UFE)

When the interventional radiologist has reached the location of the fibroids via a catheter, very small spheres (embolic material) are injected through the catheter and into the blood flow leading to the uterine fibroid tumors. Then, the embolic material blocks the vessels around the fibroid, depriving it of oxygenated blood. The oxygen deprivation results in fibroids shrinking. Patients usually stay anywhere from four to 23 hours after the procedure is complete.The entire fibroid treatment typically lasts less than one hour, and is performed as an outpatient therapy.

spinal PAIN MANAGEMENT

Vertebral compression fractures:

As the population ages, many suffer with back pain. In some instances, the pain is due to injury or osteoporosis. We manage and treat the pain this with vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty.

Vertebroplasty

Vertebroplasty is a pain treatment for vertebral compression fractures that fail to respond to conventional medical therapy, such as minimal or no pain relief with analgesics or narcotic doses that are intolerable. Vertebroplasty, a nonsurgical treatment performed by interventional radiologists using imaging guidance, stabilizes the collapsed vertebra with the injection of medical-grade bone cement into the spine.

Kyphoplasty

Kyphoplasty also treats vertebral compression fractures, but it uses a balloon that inflates and elevates the fracture, returning the pieces to a more normal position.

Enlarged Prostate

Also known as benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Keep in mind: BPH is not cancer and it does not raise your risk for prostate cancer. Symptoms can include the following: an urgent need to urinate; increased frequency of urination—especially at night (nocturia); inability to urinate or straining while urinating; weak urine stream; a urine stream that starts and stops (intermittently); unable to empty your bladder completely; or dribbling at the end of urinating. It typically occurs in men over 40, especially those who are Hispanic or Black or are obese.

Our procedures:

Prostatic artery embolization (PAE)

Performed to reduce the blood supply to the prostate. Tiny, round particles are injected through a catheter and into the blood vessels. The once enlarged prostate starts to shrink and you can find your lower urinary tract symptoms go away within days.