Advanced Radiology Procedures Clinic

Your provider may refer you to the Advanced Radiology Procedures Clinic at Froedtert Hospital for more advanced medical imaging to diagnose your condition or develop a treatment plan. This imaging center is on Level 2 near the J Elevator off the skywalk from Specialty Clinics Parking (formerly Parking 3).

How the Advanced Radiology Procedures Clinic Works

All procedures performed in the Advanced Radiology Procedure Clinic use a combination of imaging — such as CT, ultrasound and fluoroscopy (a continuous X-ray imaging on a monitor).

Providers in the Advanced Radiology Procedures Clinic are fellowship-trained radiologists who use their expertise in interpreting medical images (such as CT, X-ray and ultrasound) to perform diagnostic imaging and therapeutic procedures. Our radiology nurses are trained in critical care, emergency management, procedural workflows and conscious sedation support for radiology procedures. Specialized radiology technologists assist with procedure room set-up and readiness and operate equipment while the radiologist is performing the procedure.

Our team works closely with specialties that include cancer, orthopaedics, acute care surgery and pulmonology through a referral process. When your doctor refers you to our clinic, our team reviews your images with our board-certified radiologists to come up with the safest, most effective plan of care for you.

The majority of our procedures are biopsies (tissue samples) for cancer diagnosis and follow-up. Our team helps identify the area of concern and takes tissue samples with image guidance. The Advanced Radiology Procedures Clinic works collaboratively with cancer team members, laboratory services and our Clinical Trials Office (if a clinical trial is part of your care plan).

We also provide care for patients who need a drain placement or fluid aspiration. We are part of your care tam for the duration of the time the drain is in place — collaborating on your care with your physician team.

What to Expect

When we receive a referral from your doctor, a radiologist reviews the request and your most recent imaging. After review, the radiologist works with our procedure team to develop a plan of care to ensure the procedure will be safe for you. If the radiologist is able to safely perform the procedure, staff from our Advanced Radiology Procedures Clinic will contact you to schedule the procedure.

On the day of the procedure, we ask that you arrive about one hour before the procedure. This time is scheduled to answer your questions, gain your informed consent and prepare you for the procedure. Once everything is ready to go, we will take you to the procedure suite. Our procedures are done with local lidocaine and, if needed, conscious sedation for pain management. Once the procedure is complete, you will spend some time in our recovery area to make sure you are ready to go home.

Services Provided

We provide a wide range of procedures for cancer diagnosis, management of fluid collections, joint injections and diagnostic exams and procedures. Procedures include:

• CT-Guided Biopsies
  • Lung biopsy
  • Musculoskeletal biopsy
  • Solid organ biopsy
  • Lymph node biopsy
  • Drain placements/aspiration
  • Needle localization
• Ultrasound-Guided Biopsies
  • Liver biopsy
  • Renal biopsy
  • Soft tissue biopsy
  • Joint injection and aspiration of fluids
• Fluoroscopy
  • Diagnostic sinogram
  • Drain manipulation
  • Lumbar puncture

Preparing for Your Appointment

A radiology nurse will call you with instructions 24 to 48 hours before your procedure. Instructions are based on the procedure you are having and can include fasting, pre-procedure COVID testing, and temporarily stopping certain medications.

Your Procedure Results

Samples obtained during a biopsy or drain placement are analyzed in the lab. Results are typically available in two to three business days. Your primary care doctor or referring provider will call you with results.

At times, you may find your results in MyChart before your provider contacts you. These results may not be complete because further lab tests are being processed. Please contact the provider who referred you to us directly to verify and discuss results.