Fundamental Technical Skills In Interventional Radiology

OVERVIEW

This page is dedicated to covering some of the foundational technical skills that are essential to the field of interventional radiology. These skills are organized in the categories below.

General Topics:

• Scrubbing Into Cases
• Using Ultrasound
• Establishing Vascular Access

Basic Skills:

• Filling Syringes With Saline/Contrast (Using The Backtable Apparatus)
• Administering Lidocaine Properly
• Unsheathing/Re-sheathing The Scalpel
• Flushing Wires
• Straightening The Tip Of A J Wire
• Gathering Wires
• Re-Sheathing Wires (Placing Them Back In Their Packaging/Casing)
• Loading Equipment Onto The Wire
• Advancing Equipment Over The Wire (Pinch/Push Technique)
• Removing Equipment Off The Wire (Pinch/Pull Technique)
• Securing The Back End Of The Wire (Anchoring The Wire)

Closing Access Sites:

• Closing AV Graft/Fistula Access Sites (Purse String And Toggle Technique)

Securing Equipment In Place:

• Suturing Tubes In Place
• Suturing Lines In Place 
• Securing Tubes/Lines With The Statlock Device

Applying Dressings:

• Applying Dressings To Puncture Sites (2×2 Gauze With Tegaderm)

Removing IR Equipment From The Patient When It Is No Longer Needed:

• Removing Secured Drains/Tubes From The Patient (Ex: Abdominal Drain)
• Removing IR Chest Tubes (Pigtail Catheters)