“Young interventional radiologists have got a very exciting future,” Trevor Cleveland (Sheffield, UK, and a former president of the British Society of Interventional Radiology [BSIR]), tells Interventional News. In 2021, Cleveland delivered the Wattie Fletcher lecture at the BSIR Annual Scientific Meeting (8–10 December, Glasgow, UK).
In discussing the rapid transformation seen in interventional radiology (IR) during his career, Cleveland draws out the revolutions in treatment for gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding, oncology, and trauma that have all been marked by a shift to more minimally-invasive treatments. In his view, the ability for IR to provide a 24-hour service, generate evidence for good patient care, and grasp technological advances have been central to underpin success and “embrace the change”.
“We are very dependent on, and use a lot of high-tech devices. […] One of the reasons we did not treat GI bleeds was because the coils were big, cumbersome, and difficult to deliver. Nowadays, we have got microcatheters and microcoils and we can really get right to work to where the bleeding is a problem,” he explains.
And, on the subject of evidence, Cleveland says, “evidence is king, really, isn’t it?”
