Image-guided interventions, also known as interventional radiology, is the use of imaging modalities, such as ultrasound, fluoroscopy (X-rays), and endoscopy (small video cameras), to guide veterinary therapeutic procedures. In most cases, these procedures are performed through the use of very small incisions, or sometimes no incision at all, which makes them very minimally invasive. Advantages of these therapies include reduced complications, shorter hospital stays, and the ability to treat conditions for which no treatments may exist or in which conventional treatments involve risks that are unacceptable to the client or veterinary patient. Image-guided interventions have many far reaching applications across species, organ systems, and diseases.
Image-guided interventions are often complex and require considerable technical expertise. While very few veterinarians are trained in these procedures, the UF Small Animal Hospital has implemented the only multi-disciplinary veterinary image-guided interventional service including veterinary specialists from the Diagnostic Imaging, Surgery, Internal Medicine, Cardiology, Oncology, Emergency and Critical Care services. This team oriented approach allows us to bring together the knowledge, training, and experience of multiple individuals in order to offer the best possible care to our patients. The UF Image-Guided Interventional Service is currently offering the following procedures; however, we, and others in this exciting field, are constantly working to refine image-guided techniques and the potential to develop new image-guided therapies in veterinary patients is almost endless.
Airway/respiratory (breathing/lung):
- Tracheal stenting for tracheal collapse
- Nasopharyngeal stenosis dilation/stenting
- Tracheobronchial (airway) foreign body removal
- Tracheal mass removal
- Thoracic duct glue embolization (closure) for chylothorax
Contact the Small Animal Internal Medicine or Small Animal Surgery Service for appointments or more information
Cardiac (heart):
- Pacemaker implantation
- Balloon valvuloplasty (dilation) for pulmonic and subaortic (heart valve) stenosis
- Patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) occlusion (closure)
- Heartworm extraction
- Balloon pericardiotomy (opening the sac around the heart)
- Occlusion (closure) of other cardiac shunts (atrial and ventricular septal defects [ASD, VSD])
- Balloon dilation/stenting for cor triatriatum dexter (abnormal septum in the heart)
Contact the Veterinary Cardiology Service for appointments or more information
Gastrointestinal (digestive tract):
- Gastrointestinal foreign body removal
- Esophageal dilation for esophageal strictures
- Colonic stenting for tumors or strictures
- Feeding tubes
Contact the Small Animal Internal Medicine Service for appointments or more information
Hepatobiliary (liver and gall bladder):
- Coil embolization (closure) of intrahepatic portosystemic (liver) shunts
- Glue embolization (closure) of hepatic (liver) arteriovenous (blood vessel) malformations
- Gall bladder drainage
Contact the Small Animal Internal Medicine or Small Animal Surgery Service for appointments or more information
Oncology (cancer):
- Intra-arterial chemotherapy and chemoembolization (directly to the blood vessels supplying the tumor)
- Stenting of obstructions by tumors (see airway/breathing, gastrointestinal, peripheral vascular, urinary)
Contact the Veterinary Oncology Service for appointments or more information
Peripheral vascular (blood vessels):
- Embolization (closure) of arteriovenous (blood vessel) malformations/fistulas
- Intravascular foreign body removal
- Embolization for epistaxis (nasal bleeding) or other hemorrhage (bleeding)
- Stenting for vascular stenosis
Contact the Small Animal Internal Medicine or Veterinary Cardiology Service for appointments or more information
Urinary (bladder and kidney):
- Urethral stenting for strictures and tumors
- Ureteral stenting for stones, strictures, and tumors
- Laser lithotripsy (stone destruction)
- Laser ablation of ectopic (abnormally placed) ureters
- Renal (kidney) drainage
Contact the Small Animal Internal Medicine or Small Animal Surgery Service for appointments or more information
Large Animals:
- Arterial embolization (blood vessel closure) for guttural pouch mycosis (fungal infection)
- Electrical cardioversion (synchronized shock) for atrial fibrillation
- Laser lithotripsy (stone destruction)
- Compression of the infraorbital nerve for idiopathic head shaking
Contact the Large Animal Internal Medicine or Large Animal Surgery Service for appointments or more information
