Interventional radiology
National leaders in ultra precise, image-guided techniques
When you or a loved one needs treatment, you deserve care that feels safe and manageable. Interventional radiology (IR) uses real-time imaging—such as X-rays, CT scans, and ultrasound—to guide tiny instruments and treat conditions with precision, all without the need for surgery. By avoiding traditional operations, these procedures lower risk and reduce pain, allowing many patients to return home the same day and get back to their daily routines sooner.
At Penn Medicine, our goal is simple: to help you feel better and return to your life as quickly and safely as possible. Our interventional radiology team combines deep expertise with compassion, listening to your needs and choosing treatments that prioritize both your health and comfort. As leaders at the forefront of the latest techniques, our interventionalists perform among the highest volume of procedures in the region each year, with a strong record of effective outcomes.
“At Penn Interventional Radiology, patients are at the center of everything we do. We bring together world-class, minimally invasive treatments with the kind of personal care we’d want for our own families.”
Our team’s model of interventional care
With our interventional radiology approach, treatment decisions focus on helping patients feel confident, supported, and ready to return to daily life sooner.
- Image-guided precision: Real-time imaging allows treatments to target the problem area with accuracy while protecting healthy tissue.
- Minimum impact, maximum safety: Smaller or no incisions often mean lower risk, less pain, and faster recovery, with many patients going home the same day.
- Focus on restored quality of life: Treatment plans consider how care affects everyday living, not just clinical results.
- Empowered, patient-centered partnership: Care begins with listening, open conversations, and shared decisions, so patients feel informed and supported every step of the way.
Interventional radiology services
You don’t have to travel far to get advanced care. Minimally invasive image-guided procedures are available at Penn Medicine locations across Pennsylvania and New Jersey, with teams who work closely with specialists to coordinate your care and keep it close to home whenever possible.
Care for rare and complex lymphatic disorders takes deep expertise. As one of the nation’s few centers focused entirely on the lymphatic system, we provide specialized treatments, including thoracic duct embolization, when and where you need them.
When cancer treatment is needed, precision matters. Our interventional oncology team uses targeted procedures, such as tumor ablation and radiofrequency ablation, to treat tumors while often avoiding surgery. These advanced techniques are a key component of our integrated cancer care services.
Healthy blood flow plays a big role in how you feel each day. Using image-guided techniques such as angioplasty and stenting, thrombolysis, and varicocele embolization, we treat vascular and venous conditions to improve circulation and help you feel your best.
Penn offers multidisciplinary care for vascular anomalies and tumors, providing longitudinal support that is rarely found in community settings. Our program utilizes state-of-the-art genetic testing for tailored systemic therapies and cutting-edge interventions, often in close collaboration with the Comprehensive Vascular Anomalies Program at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP).
Living with ongoing pain can be exhausting. We focus on personalized, image-guided treatments, including targeted ablation techniques, to help reduce pain, restore movement, and support everyday life.
Complex digestive, liver, and kidney conditions require careful coordination. Our team uses specialized treatments, such as transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt, chemoembolization, and hemodialysis access management, to support your health and stability in collaboration with our gastroenterology/hepatology and kidney medicine specialists.
Some conditions affect daily comfort and quality of life in very personal ways. From uterine fibroids to an enlarged prostate, we use image-guided treatments like uterine fibroid embolization and prostate artery embolization to focus on comfort, recovery, and results.
Venous Interventions at Penn Interventional Radiology (VIPIR)
The VIPIR program offers a level of specialization and care that sets Penn Medicine apart as a regional and national leader in treating the full spectrum of chronic venous insufficiency, from complex central occlusions to deep venous reflux and varicose veins.
- Complex central venous reconstruction: We specialize in advanced recanalization (including the use of radiofrequency powerwire) for central venous occlusions caused by thrombus, cancer, IVC filters, anatomic anomalies, and hemodialysis access complications, as well as complex in-stent thrombosis re-interventions.
- Leading center for pelvic venous disease (PeVD): We provide a sophisticated diagnostic and therapeutic approach to pelvic venous disorders. Utilizing the SVP (Symptoms-Varices-Pathology) methodology, our care is aligned with the latest multisocietal clinical guidelines.
- Trusted referral destination: A trusted hub for complex cases referred from vascular surgery, oncology, hematology, cardiology, nephrology, PM&R, and OBGYN specialists nationwide.
Clinic consultations are held at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine and Penn Presbyterian Medical Center. Procedures are performed at both of these sites as well as at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP).
Interventions and procedures designed around you
Image-guided procedures give our patients effective treatment options that are precise, targeted, and often easier to recover from. We perform the full range of interventional treatment, including:
A behind-the-scenes look at the power of IR
"A large majority of what can be done in the operating room we can do minimally invasively in our labs.”
Our interventional radiology teams are redefining surgery. By using real-time imaging, they perform procedures that often avoid open operations and are ready 24/7 to care for patients with both routine and urgent needs.
Our doctors
Locations
Our hospitals, multispecialty medical centers, pharmacies, labs and more offer outstanding, personalized care for patients all across the region.