 Embolization
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Embolization is an image-guided interventional procedure designed to block or reduce abnormal blood flow to selected body areas. The procedure involves inserting a thin tube, called a catheter, into an artery in the groin and threading it through the vascular system to the affected area.
Once the catheter is positioned correctly, a special agent (alcohol or synthetic particles, for example) is injected into the affected blood vessels. The procedure, performed under anesthesia, usually takes 3 to 4 hours, but sometimes longer.
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Embolization is used to treat certain conditions such as arteriovenous malformations, uncontrollable bleeding, and tumors.
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Embolization is relatively safe, but it can be associated with serious side effects. These will be explained to you in detail by the physician who performs the procedure.
Possible side effects include:
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- Injury —such as clotting, bleeding or bruising— to the access artery
- Injury to skin (blisters, ulcers), nerves and normal blood vessels.
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An interventional radiologist, supported by a medical team that includes an anesthesiologist, nurses and technologists. Interventional radiologists are physicians with special training and expertise in image-guided interventions.
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When you schedule your child's embolization, you will be given written instructions that will tell you when your child must stop eating, drinking and taking medicine.
Your child will receive general anesthesia to help him or her stay still during the embolization. General anesthesia is medicine that causes deep sleep and will prevent your child from feeling any pain during the procedure.
Explain in simple terms why the procedure is needed and what will happen.
You may want to say:
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- you will be close by
- your child will need to lie very still
- your child may bring a favorite toy or blanket into the room.
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- A staff person from Radiology or Day Surgery will call you a few days ahead of time to tell you where to go when you come to the hospital.
- When you arrive, the interventional radiologist will talk with you about the procedure and ask you to sign a consent form. This may be done on the day of the procedure or during a pre-op clinic visit.
- Your child will change into a hospital gown.
- You and your child will be brought into the room where the procedure is done and a nurse will insert an intravenous (IV) tube after numbing the area first. General anesthesia will be administered through the IV.
- You may stay until your child falls asleep.
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- The radiology technologist cleans your child's groin with a special liquid that helps prevent infection. Numbing medicine is injected into the cleaned area through a tiny needle.
- Next the doctor inserts a larger needle into the groin. After the needle is in the artery, a long thin tube —the catheter— is passed through.
- The interventional radiologist then uses the catheter to inject a special contrast material that makes the blood vessels more visible on X-rays. Specialized equipment then obtains X-ray images which the radiologist uses to assess your child's medical condition and to guide the catheter to the proper location.
- The catheter is then placed in the exact position and embolization material is injected into those blood vessels.
- When the procedure is done, the catheter is removed and pressure is applied to the catheter site to prevent bleeding.
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- When your child starts to wake up, a nurse takes him or her to the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU). A nurse watches your child closely for 4 to 6 hours. You may stay with your child.
- During this time your child must lie very still without bending the leg.
- There may be some mild discomfort at the catheter site.
- The interventional radiologist will speak to you about the results.
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The interventional radiologist who performs the procedure will discuss the immediate findings and results with you after the procedure is completed. When the embolization is being used as a primary treatment for a condition, he or she will ask you to bring your child back for a follow-up visit in order to assess the results.
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To obtain additional information before or after embolization, contact the Children's Interventional Radiology office at 617-355-6579. The appropriate person will be asked to return your call.
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As a tertiary care hospital, Children's Hospital Boston cares for a large number of children with complex medical conditions, including conditions involving abnormal blood vessels. In particular, our Vascular Anomalies Center deals mainly with children with vascular malformations.
Vascular interventional radiologists at Children's Hospital Boston have extensive training and experience in embolization techniques. The Interventional Division is equipped with state-of-the-art angiographic equipment and all of the necessary materials needed to perform embolization procedures on children, and its support staff of anesthesiologists, technologists and nurses are experienced in caring for patients undergoing these interventions. Children's Hospital Boston performs the largest number of pediatric embolizations of any children's hospital in the United States.
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