Patient: It hurts when I do this.
Doctor: Then don t do that.
How that dovetails with cutting technology speaks to the nature of innovation. Greg Gordon, MD, an interventional radiologist, suffered every time he did his job. Discomfort, chronic pain, debilitating back injuries and even dangerous radiation exposure are all part of an interventional radiologist s existence. Gordon couldn t just stop.
But the pain could.
Interventional radiology uses x-rays to help guide equipment like catheters and stents, or monitor blood flow and find blocked arteries.
Fluoroscopic procedures are flooded with radiation, and that adds up over time, so physicians must limit their exposure. They protect themselves with 15- to 30-pound lead-lined garments, which can cause musculoskeletal injuries. Physicians stand in ways that keep them as far removed from the x-ray field as possible. That usually means leaning in odd and uncomfortable angles, and using less-than-preferred surgical techniques.