Innovations in Interventional Radiology: Revolutionizing Minimally Invasive Surgical Techniques for Companion Animals

Interventional radiology means doing surgery with small cuts, using special imaging tools like fluoroscopy, ultrasound, CT scans, and endoscopy. These tools help vets guide tiny instruments inside the body, so they don’t need to make big cuts.

Small cuts have many benefits over regular surgery, such as:

• Less pain and stress for animals
• Lower chance of problems
• Faster healing and shorter hospital stays
• Animals can get back to normal sooner
• Treatments can focus more accurately on problems

Places like the University of California, Davis, use these methods a lot. For example, their Soft Tissue Surgery Service uses fluoroscopy to treat tumors, map lymph nodes, destroy cancer cells with heat, and perform diagnostic tests with cameras inside the body. These methods cause less damage to nearby tissue and make treatment more exact.

Using fluoroscopy and special beads during cancer surgery can block blood flow to tumors, which makes them shrink and helps animals feel better. One example is Zeke, a 14-year-old beagle/cocker spaniel, who had liver tumor treatments this way at UC Davis and saw good results.

Cardiac and Vascular Interventions

Interventional radiology has improved how vets take care of heart and blood vessel problems in pets. Procedures done with small tools include closing a patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) shunt, putting stents in heart valves, balloon valvuloplasty, and mapping irregular heartbeats.

Less than ten vet teaching hospitals in the U.S. can currently perform heart valve stenting inside the heart for problems like pulmonary valve stenosis, which narrows the valve in dogs. This treatment lowers the risk of heart failure and helps blood flow better without big surgery.

Electrophysiology mapping helps find abnormal heart rhythms very precisely. Then, vets can use catheter ablation to fix these problems, which can work well instead of giving long-term medicine.

Orthopedic and Reproductive Surgery Advancements

Veterinary surgery now uses technology such as 3D printing. This helps make titanium implants that are custom-fit from CT scans. These implants are used in bone surgeries, including full hip replacements. This personalized care improves recovery for dogs that often have hip problems, like German shorthaired pointers.

In reproductive medicine, UC Davis has made progress with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) for horses. This helps improve horse breeding programs by making fertility treatments better.

Expanded Emergency Care Facilities

The number of emergency veterinary cases in the U.S. has grown a lot. UC Davis, for example, saw its emergency room visits increase ten times since 2013. In 2022, they handled over 900 cases each month, and some months went over 1,200 cases.

To handle this, UC Davis nearly doubled its emergency room and intensive care unit space to about 1,600 square feet. This helps with managing patient flow and supports care from many specialists in fields like cardiology, cancer, internal medicine, neurology, surgery, and critical care.

This team approach improves patient results and also offers good training for veterinary students and residents in emergency medicine.

Cancer Treatment: New Techniques Improving Outcomes

Cancer care for pets has improved by combining interventional radiology with new cancer treatments.

One new method is electrochemotherapy. It uses electrical pulses in tumors to help chemotherapy drugs work better. This means vets can use less medicine while still fighting cancer, so pets have fewer side effects.

Immunotherapy is another area growing quickly. It uses substances like inhaled interleukin-15 to help the immune system kill tumor cells. These treatments are being tested in clinical trials, often with help from human medical centers to improve care for both animals and people.

These treatments work well with imaging tools, allowing vets to target tumors precisely and protect healthy tissue nearby.

The Role of AI and Workflow Automation in Veterinary Interventional Radiology

Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation play a big role in making workflows faster and tests more accurate in veterinary care, including interventional radiology.

At UC Davis, AI has been made to detect Addison’s disease and leptospirosis in dogs with very high accuracy—over 99% for Addison’s and 100% for leptospirosis. These systems look at patterns in blood tests to help vets make quick, accurate diagnoses.

AI also cuts down the time it takes to get results, so treatments can start earlier. Busy veterinary hospitals in cities and suburbs benefit a lot from AI tools that help triage patients and schedule imaging.

Also, automated phone systems, like those from Simbo AI, help vets handle many emergency and referral calls. These systems work 24/7, allowing clinics to manage appointments, answer clients, and retrieve records quickly. This helps clients get answers faster and avoids missed messages.

IT managers in veterinary places can connect AI scheduling and electronic medical records with interventional radiology departments to improve patient flow and reduce work for staff.

Advantages of Minimally Invasive Techniques for Veterinary Practices

For clinic owners and practice managers, interventional radiology offers several benefits:

• Cost Efficiency: Although new imaging gear and training cost money at first, minimally invasive surgery lowers overall costs by shortening hospital stays and reducing complications.
• Patient Volume Management: Animals heal faster and need less care after surgery, freeing up beds to care for more patients.
• Enhanced Service Offerings: Offering advanced, less invasive treatments attracts pet owners looking for modern care, helping clinics stay competitive.
• Specialist Collaboration: These procedures often need teams from different fields, encouraging teamwork and better treatment plans.
• Staff Utilization: Smaller surgeries need fewer hours for aftercare, so staff can focus on other tasks.

IT staff should keep imaging software up to date, make sure electronic medical records work smoothly, and use reliable communication tools within the clinic.

Expanding Interventional Radiology Services in the United States

Veterinary medicine in the U.S. is slowly adding more interventional radiology services. These range from university hospitals to specialty centers and private clinics. Advanced tools like real-time fluoroscopy, catheter equipment, and imaging-guided biopsy needles help treat many conditions without major surgery.

Veterinarians nationwide report success treating heart defects, blockages in urine and digestive systems, tumors, and even eye problems like removing eyelid tumors with laser devices.

Clinic leaders need to plan carefully, balancing costs for technology with patient needs, training staff, and changing workflows.

Summary

Interventional radiology is changing surgery and diagnostic options for pets in the United States. Small-cut techniques reduce pain, speed healing, and improve results in cancer care, heart treatment, bone surgery, and emergency care. AI tools make diagnosing faster and more accurate, and automation helps keep clinics running smoothly.

As veterinary medicine changes, clinic owners, managers, and IT teams must work together to use these tools well. This will help provide good and efficient care for animal patients across the country.