Faculty Bibliography

Learning Objectives: 1. To demonstrate the importance of post-procedural care in achieving good outcomes. 2. To provide an overview of appropriate general guidelines for clinical and radiographic follow-up of patients in the post-procedural period. 3. To provide a simple post-procedural plan for commonly performed and challenging procedures. 4. To discuss the management plan for the most commonly encountered early and delayed complications in vascular and non-vascular interventions. Background: In thenearly50years sinceDr. Alexander Margulis first proposed it as a new subspecialty of radiology, interventional radiology has transformed into a dynamic fully-developed clinical specialty. Success in interventional radiology in the current era requires strong clinical skills and familiarity with not only a broad range of disease and procedural techniques, but also the diagnosis and management of their possible complications. Adverse events that occur during and immediately after vascular and interventional radiology (VIR) procedures may often be avoided by improved pre-procedural planning, more effective communication between healthcare team members, and more consistent and structured post-procedural care. Clinical Findings/Procedure Details: Structure for Post-procedural Care * Instructions (for outpatients and inpatient referring services) * General * Activity * Antibiotics * Analgesia * Resuming medications, in particular anticoagulation and antiplatelet therapy * Plan for follow-up clinic visits and imaging * Procedure-specific (vascular and non-vascular) * Warning signs * Catheter care * RED FLAGS: ominous signs and symptoms * Tachycardia, dizziness, near-syncope * Increasing pain * Fever * Essentials of managing common complications Conclusions: 1. Excellence in interventional radiology requires not only superb procedural skills, but also consistent and structured post-procedural care. 2. Accurate clinical and radiographic assessment in the post-procedural period, proper management of complications, and close follow-up are essential in appropriate management of patients undergoing interventional procedures