SURGICAL TREATMENT UNDER THREAT! HOW INTERVENTIONAL RADIOLOGY TECHNOLOGIES HELPED RESTORE THE CHANCE FOR RADICAL TREATMENT

Modern technologies enable oncologists to treat a wide range of patients, regardless of severe comorbidities or the advanced stage of their cancer. When 70-year-old Vadim Petrovich was diagnosed with stage 3 stomach cancer, he was scheduled for comprehensive treatment: chemotherapy followed by surgery to remove the affected organ. While complex, this approach has become a routine standard in oncology.

Unfortunately, during his chemotherapy, Vadim Petrovich’s vascular condition deteriorated—he developed widespread atherosclerosis, primarily affecting the visceral arteries supplying the abdominal organs. This led to a critical narrowing of the superior mesenteric artery, one of the major blood vessels responsible for intestinal circulation. As a result, plans for his surgical treatment were in jeopardy.

“During a multidisciplinary oncology board meeting, we decided to proceed with the radical cancer surgery only after restoring adequate blood supply to the intestines,” says Ilya Igolnikov, a vascular surgeon from the Interventional Radiology Department at the A.Tsyb Medical Radiological Research Centre, – branch of the Federal State Budgetary Institution of the “National Medical Research Radiological Centre” of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, and a member of the Young Scientists Council.

“In our department, we performed a high-tech procedure without anesthesia, incisions, or blood loss: using a precise technique, we inserted a stent into the artery, which had a diameter of no more than 2 mm, successfully restoring its lumen.”

A stent is a specialized device designed to widen narrowed blood vessels. It resembles a delicate metal tube or coil, with dimensions measured in millimeters.

Just two weeks later, Vadim Petrovich successfully underwent surgery.

His attending physician, thoracic surgeon Leonid Evdokimov, noted that the procedure and recovery period went easily: “We performed a laparoscopic gastrectomy with lymph node removal using a minimally invasive approach through small incisions in the abdominal wall. This method significantly reduced recovery time and helped the patient return to his normal life more quickly.”