GUWAHATI, April 28 - A rare interventional radiology procedure was conducted at Swagat Hospital here recently, according to a press release issued here.
Interventional radiologist and senior radiology consultant of Swagat Super Speciality Hospital Dr Arup Karmakar conducted a CT-guided microwave ablation of hepatocellular carcinoma under general anaesthesia. Here, the needle was placed in the liver�s cancerous tumour under CT guidance and high frequency electric current was passed to create heat to destroy the cancer cells. Post-operatively, the patient is doing well and does not have any complaints, the release claimed.
Interventional radiology (IR) mainly navigates the entrails of the human body with ease and without hurting any of its strands, locates the disease and feels it well within its power to fix it.
According to Dr Karmakar interventional radiology is an exciting and unique speciality that is at the intersection between radiology and surgery. It has been called the �Surgery of the new millennium� because it replaces the scalpel with a needle. It is called the fourth pillar of oncology management, Dr Karmakar revealed.
Dr Karmakar also said that when nothing works, IR can prove handy. Since it involves only a wire and a needle, there are almost no side effects. It is the minimally invasive pinhole surgical procedure in the real sense of the term, he said.