If this is not your name, click here. Other Ophthalmic Surgery Organ Transplantation Orthopaedics Other Osteoarthritis Osteoporosis Otitis Otorhino. The studies examined procedures needed by kidney dialysis patients and by people undergoing long-term chemotherapy or IV medication. Two studies compared interventional procedures with surgical treatments for blood clots that develop in the arms or legs of patients who undergo the most common form of dialysis for kidney failure. Dialysis is done through grafts that are surgically constructed in arm or leg blood vessels.
Clots are a common problem with the grafts.
Although there are surgical approaches for removing the clots, the studies found that the interventional radiology procedures are more successful and cost-effective. Using the interventional radiology techniques can extend the life of the graft and, therefore, the patient, which is good news for the 170,000 people receiving this form of dialysis. We save veins by keeping access sites open. When a problem is caught early, treatment can be less invasive. A catheter is inserted into the graft under imaging guidance and a tiny balloon is inflated to widen the narrowed opening.