Medical management of the patient

Substantial progress has been made in the practice of interventional radiology. Such gains would not be possible without adequate medical management of patients. Their well-being may be threatened by such procedures, many of which exceed several hours' duration, during which time they need to remain totally immobile. Certain procedures may be painful or impose the risk of substantial complications. The patient population subjected to these procedures is tending to the extremes of life: the very young and the very old. These patients tend to be fragile and at times noncompliant with the demands of the procedure.