Interventional radiology in infancy

Interventional radiology (IR) is an emerging sub-speciality within paediatric medicine. In adult care, IR is largely centred on the management of vascular disease but in paediatric practice, IR applications are varied and increasingly innovative, making this an exciting field to be a part of. IR has a central role both in the day to day care of sick children, from long term IV access provision to feeding tube insertions, and in the acute management of critically ill infants, such as those with overwhelming liver disease, neonatal tumours and vascular malformations. Paediatric IR faces a unique set of challenges, developing or modifying techniques and equipment for use in very small patients, training professionals to take the speciality forward and, most importantly, convincing paediatricians and healthcare institutions to create opportunities for IR to make a difference.