You bring up the knee pain again at your annual physical, or the heavy periods, or hemorrhoids that won’t quit no matter what you try. Your doctor adjusts a prescription, maybe orders imaging, and tells you to check back in a few months. 

This cycle can repeat for years before surgery ever enters the conversation, let alone an alternative to it.

At Orange County Interventional Radiology (OCIR), Dr. Kevin Burns and Dr. Jimmy Ton often see this pattern. Patients arrive after months or years of conservative treatment, sometimes already scheduled for surgery, having never heard that a minimally invasive, image-guided option existed for their condition. This gap comes down to how unevenly interventional radiology gets taught and referred across medicine, more than any shortfall in your doctor’s judgment.

Why the Referral Does Not Always Happen

Interventional radiology is a relatively young primary specialty, and awareness of what it treats hasn’t kept pace with what it can actually do. One survey of 234 primary care physicians at a large academic center found that only 56.9% rated their knowledge of IR as adequate, 20.3% as poor, and just 2.5% as excellent, according to Diagnostic Imaging.

Specialists show a similar blind spot. A separate study of orthopedic surgeons, rheumatologists, and physiatrists across a 14-hospital health system found that only 17% recognized interventional radiology as a distinct specialty, even though it’s been one since 2021. If specialists working alongside IR every day are still unclear on where it fits, it’s easy to see how a condition like knee osteoarthritis or an enlarged prostate can move straight from primary care to a surgical referral without a non-surgical option ever coming up.

Public awareness lags similarly. In a survey of 1,000 members of the general public, more than half said the term interventional radiology was unclear to them. Between an unfamiliar name and a referring physician who may not have deep exposure to the specialty, plenty of patients don’t learn it’s an option until they research it themselves.

Why This Gap Affects Your Care

This gap has real consequences for patients, not just referring physicians. More than 90% of patients surveyed said they would be more likely to pursue an interventional radiology procedure if their primary care doctor referred them, according to Applied Radiology. Trust in a referral shapes whether people ever explore an option at all. When that referral does not happen, patients often accept whatever comes next, usually a stronger medication, another injection or a surgical consult, without hearing that a catheter-based, outpatient treatment might address the same problem with far less downtime.

Interventional radiology uses imaging such as X-ray, ultrasound and CT to guide small instruments to the exact source of a problem, treating conditions through a tiny puncture rather than an incision. If your current treatment plan has stalled or surgery is being discussed, it’s worth asking directly whether an IR consult was done first.

Common Symptoms Worth Bringing Up With Your Doctor

Interventional radiology covers a wide range of conditions, but a handful come up often enough in primary care that they’re worth knowing by name. Here are a few scenarios where it’s reasonable to ask whether IR belongs in the conversation.

Chronic Knee Pain That Injections No Longer Help

If cortisone or hyaluronic acid injections have stopped working and knee replacement feels premature, genicular artery embolization targets the inflamed blood vessels that feed the joint rather than replacing the joint.

Hemorrhoids You’ve Managed at Home for Years

When fiber, topical treatments and banding haven’t provided lasting relief, hemorrhoid embolization blocks the arteries feeding internal hemorrhoids without any incision to the rectal tissue.

Heavy Menstrual Bleeding or Known Fibroids

If a hysterectomy has come up as the next step for heavy bleeding tied to fibroids, it’s worth raising uterine fibroid embolization before agreeing to a hysterectomy, particularly if preserving the uterus matters to you.

An Enlarged Prostate Affecting Urination

Frequent or difficult urination tied to an enlarged prostate can often be treated with prostate artery embolization, an outpatient alternative to procedures like TURP.

Leg Pain, Cramping or Slow-Healing Wounds

These can be signs of peripheral artery disease, which is treatable through minimally invasive vascular procedures long before it threatens limb health.

Chronic Pelvic Pain

Ongoing pelvic pain, especially pain that worsens with standing or during your cycle, can sometimes trace back to pelvic congestion syndrome, which IR treats through vein embolization.

None of this means IR is automatically the right fit. It means these are reasonable conditions to ask about specifically, rather than assuming your current plan is the only path forward.

How to Bring It Up With Your Primary Care Doctor

Most visits move quickly, so it helps to ask directly instead of waiting for the topic to come up on its own. A few ways to frame it:

• “Would I be a candidate for a minimally invasive, image-guided treatment before we talk about surgery?”
• “Is there an interventional radiologist you typically refer patients to for this?”
• “Can I get a referral so I can at least understand my options at a consultation?”

You don’t need a referral to reach out to us directly. Patients are welcome to contact OCIR directly, and we’ll coordinate with your primary care physician afterward so that your full care team stays informed.

What Happens After You Reach Out to OCIR

Once you contact our office, the process moves quickly and stays free of unnecessary delays, no referral required. Here’s what to expect:

1. We review your symptoms, prior treatments and existing imaging.
2. You meet the physician who would actually perform your procedure, not a separate consulting doctor.
3. We walk you through whether embolization or another IR treatment is right for your situation, including realistic expectations.
4. If you move forward, most procedures are done under local anesthesia or light sedation, take under an hour and send you home the same day.

Most patients are surprised by how quickly this moves compared to the surgical scheduling process, and how much clarity they walk away with, even if they decide to explore other options first.

Will Insurance Cover an Interventional Radiology Referral?

Cost concerns keep plenty of patients from asking about treatment options at all, and interventional radiology is no exception. The good news is that most IR procedures discussed here, including uterine fibroid embolization, prostate artery embolization, and hemorrhoid embolization, are established, evidence-based treatments typically covered by Medicare and most major insurance plans, much like a surgical consult.

Genicular artery embolization for knee pain is the one exception worth knowing about upfront. Because it’s a newer procedure, some private insurers still classify it as investigational and may not cover it. In contrast, others, including Medicare in many cases, approve it when medical necessity is documented. Coverage depends heavily on your specific plan.

At OCIR, our team verifies your coverage before anything is scheduled, so there are no surprises once you’re in the room. If your plan requires a referral or prior authorization, we handle that coordination directly with your primary care physician rather than leaving it on your plate.

This matters because cost uncertainty is one more reason patients delay bringing up IR with their doctor in the first place. It’s worth a quick call to our office to check your specific coverage before ruling anything out. The consultation itself carries no obligation to move forward, so there’s little downside to finding out where you stand.

Why Patients Choose OCIR

Dr. Burns trained at Brown University and NYU School of Medicine, completed his residency at Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and pursued advanced training in interventional radiology and oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Dr. Ton is dual board-certified in diagnostic and interventional radiology, served as chief resident at UC Irvine, and trained at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania with a focus on musculoskeletal embolization techniques, including GAE.

Patients appreciate:

• A full candidacy evaluation before anything is scheduled
• Meeting the treating physician at the first visit, with no handoff
• Advanced imaging technology comparable to major academic centers
• Direct coordination with referring primary care doctors
• Locations in Lake Forest, Mission Viejo and Irvine
• Coverage through Medicare and most major insurance plans

Take the Next Step With OCIR

If you’re exploring options for the first time or trying to avoid a surgery you’re not ready for, our team will walk through your history, imaging and goals together and give you a clear answer. You do not need to wait for your primary care doctor to bring up interventional radiology, and you don’t need a referral in hand before you call.

If your current treatment plan has plateaued, or if surgery is on the table and you’d like to know whether a non-surgical option exists first, that is exactly the kind of question worth bringing to OCIR. Call Orange County Interventional Radiology at 949-919-6169 or book online to schedule a consultation at our Lake Forest, Mission Viejo or Irvine locations.