Paediatric IR in the spotlight in 2024

April 25, 2024

The landscape and outlook of paediatric interventional radiology (PIR) is evolving and expanding across Europe. Though the subset of IRs who focus on PIR as their primary discipline remain small in number, they are an exceptionally dedicated group who are committed to ensuring that minimally invasive procedures are available to IR’s smallest patients. Children are not just tiny adults; though many interventional treatments for children mirror those available for adults, specialised techniques, devices, and training can often be required.

As the call to make PIR more accessible to the wider body of IR practitioners becomes louder, CIRSE has launched several initiatives that shine a spotlight on the discipline.

A dedicated Paediatric IR task force was established in December 2022 with the aim of shedding light on the current status of PIR across Europe.  The task force has conducted a survey of CIRSE members to better understand how much PIR is being performed in Europe and around the globe, aiming to identify centres with experience in PIR and regions where PIR development is lacking. More details from this survey will be available soon. Their final goal is to establish a network among CIRSE members which will improve IR care for children.

The PIR taskforce meeting in 2023

Faculty introduction from the recent PIR webinar 

Dr. Alex Barnacle focused on PIR in her Josef Roesch lecture at CIRSE 2022

CIRSE Webinars: What every IR should know about paediatric IR

As IRs who primarily treat adults can occasionally find themselves taking the lead on paediatric cases, CIRSE recently held a webinar covering common paediatric procedures to serve as a reference tool for IRs who do not specialize in paediatric IR. Lecture topics included vascular access in the paediatric population, vascular anomalies, paediatric bone interventions, and paediatric neurointerventional radiology.

Dr. Ralph Gnannt, who is co-chairperson of the PIR taskforce with Dr. Alex Barnacle, moderated the webinar alongside Dr. Gómez Muñoz.

“I think it’s our duty as interventional radiologists to get involved in those procedures and treatments” Dr. Gnannt said of the more common procedures covered in the webinar. “You will definitely improve the quality of those treatments as well as procedure time and hospital costs.”

At the end of the webinar, Dr. Gómez Muñoz warmly thanked the speakers and encouraged all participants to get in contact with PIRs. “I invite all of you to contact any of the speakers or any of the members of the paediatric IR community regarding any doubts or anything you might need from us.”

The full CME-accredited webinar is available for free on-demand viewing via the CIRSE Library. CME credits can be claimed by viewers who watched live or on demand up to six months after the live webinar by filling out the evaluation.

An increased PIR congress presence

Recent years have seen increasingly more paediatric focused sessions taking place at the CIRSE annual congress, and 2024 will feature the most extensive coverage yet.

This year’s timetable also has all PIR sessions clearly marked with a pink “PAED” label. Topics will include what every IR should know to save a child in cases of acute bleeding, portal hypertension in children and adolescents, access in small arteries, paediatric liver transplantation, giving children access IO, and more.

“It is exciting to see a wealth of paediatric IR content in the CIRSE programme again this year, confirming that PIR really is becoming recognised as a core subject.” says Dr. Alex Barnacle, co-chairperson of the PIR task force. “It gives me hope that more children and families will be offered IR treatments in the years to come. The recent PIR webinar was a great primer in PIR – delegates should take a look at it ahead of joining us at CIRSE 2024.”

For IRs who are curious to learn more after the webinar but can’t wait until September, ECIO will also in feature a session on a practical approach to paediatric IO, and the CIRSE Library hosts a wealth of PIR resources, including a dedicated paediatric IR topic package.