1.What can interventionalists do? Since I started working as an interventionalist, I have often been asked by friends: “What do you interventionalists do and what diseases can you treat?” I said, “If the human body is a city, and various blood vessels and digestive tracts are the pipes of the city, then we interventional doctors are plumbers. And we don’t have to dig up the road, that is to say, there is no need to have a big incision like traditional surgery, but just use special technology to work directly inside the pipe”. Of course this explanation is commonplace, but not very accurate. Textbook definition: Interventional medicine is a discipline that relies on the guidance of medical imaging equipment (including ultrasound, CT, MRI, digital subtraction angiography) and uses puncture and catheter techniques to diagnose and treat diseases with a therapeutic focus. It is characterized by accurate localization, less trauma, fewer complications, high efficacy, rapid results and reproducibility. It has become the third major clinical treatment means alongside with medical treatment and surgical treatment. 2.How many types of interventional medicine are there? (1) Classification by system ① Vascular system intervention (cardiovascular intervention, peripheral vascular intervention) Cardiovascular angiography and cardiac catheterization Drug perfusion: intra-arterial infusion of chemotherapy drugs, thrombolytic drugs, hemostatic agents, etc. Vascular embolism: bleeding vessels, tumor vessels, arteriovenous malformations, arteriovenous fistulas, hemangiomas, splenic artery embolism, etc. Angioplasty: balloon dilation of heart valves and stenoses, internal stent placement and laser (2) Non-vascular system interventional radiology: percutaneous aspiration biopsy, aspiration, drainage and treatment: such as percutaneous aspiration biopsy and ablation of parenchymal organ lesions, percutaneous intervertebral disc aspiration and nucleation, percutaneous aspiration, drainage and drug injection of abscesses and cysts, stone treatment, etc. Balloon dilation and endoprosthesis of ductal stenosis: such as trachea/bronchus, esophagus, gastrointestinal tract, bile duct, urethra, ureter and anastomosis. Balloon dilation and endoprosthesis for ureteral and anastomotic stenosis ③ Others (including the combination of both) (2) By technique ① Puncture ② Perfusion and embolization