How Doctors Use Ultrasound to Perform Fibroid Embolization in Flower Mound

Ultrasound (also known as ultrasonic imaging or medical ultrasonography) is one of the most important advances in medical imaging technology in recent years. In conjunction with other forms of imaging such as real-time X-ray fluoroscopy, CT (computed tomography) scans, and MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), ultrasound allows interventional radiologists to diagnose and treat a wide range of conditions.

Being able to see beneath the surface of the skin using these technologies has not only made diagnosis more accurate, it has made possible new types of minimally-invasive treatment procedures that allow interventional radiologists to treat patients without the need for invasive surgery. Using ultrasound and other visualization technologies, interventional radiologists can insert tiny catheters into veins or arteries, guide them into place, and then inject sclerosing agents or other medications directly into the area being treated. These procedures, which include fibroid embolization in Flower Mound, are safer because they don't require deep incisions, so less anesthesia is necessary, and recovery time after treatment is much shorter.

What kinds of conditions do the specialists at Flower Mound Image Guided Surgery treat using these advanced visualization techniques?

Our primary physician, Dr. Robert A. Handley, MD, is a board-certified interventional radiologist with long experience using ultrasound and other visualization procedures to provide vein disease treatment in Texas. In his work as a spider and varicose vein doctor in Flower Mound, he has used Doppler ultrasound to help his patients overcome vein problems for many years. At Dr. Handley's new practice, Flower Mound Image Guided Surgery (FMIGS), he has chosen to branch out into other areas of interventional radiology practice, focusing on a number of conditions that are best treated using the image-guided, minimally-invasive procedures he specializes in.

For example, FMIGS has quickly become known in the area for its effective treatment of uterine fibroids, which are non-cancerous fibroid growths that develop in the wall of the uterus and can cause symptoms such as heavy menstrual bleeding, swelling of the abdomen, and pelvic pain. Uterine fibroid embolization involves introducing a tiny catheter into an artery, guiding it precisely into place using ultrasound or MRI, and then injecting tiny particles that block the blood flow to the growths, causing them to shrink.

Varicocele treatment in Flower Mound is another specialty of FMIGS. This condition afflicts men, and can cause pain, discomfort, and even male infertility. It is analogous in male patients to pelvic venous congestion in female patients, and both conditions can be successfully treated using image-guided endovenous procedures to dilate the veins that are causing the conditions.

Interventional radiology – with its ability to guide catheters and surgical instruments precisely into place without the need for large incisions – is also used by Dr. Handley to help with pain management in patients who have suffered spinal fractures due to accident or disease. By injecting a type of bone cement precisely into place, the pain caused by compressed spinal joints can be alleviated.

There are many other services offered by the experienced Flower Mound vascular doctors at FMIGS. You can find out more about them by visiting our website at http://www.flowermound-igs.com/. Or just give us a call at 972-351-8422 – we'll be happy to answer any questions you might have.

Author Bio :

Dr. Robert A. Handley, noted PAD Treatment in Flower Mound, explains how doctors use ultrasound to perform fibroid embolization in Flower Mound.