CIRSE Standards of Practice for the Provision of Emergency IR Care on a 24/7 Basis

Interventional radiology provides effective and minimally invasive means of treating a broad variety of emergency conditions such as bleeding, ischaemia or sepsis. Availability of 24/7 emergency interventional radiology care is an important prerequisite for optimal patient care. It is often lifesaving with generally low complication rates and excellent outcomes; however, safe and sustainable provision of interventional radiology care on a 24/7 basis requires efficient organisation and adequate infrastructure.

This document will define the minimum structural and organisational standards required for the safe and sustainable delivery of emergency interventional radiology care on a 24/7 basis, depending on the spectrum of emergencies intended to be treated. CIRSE Standards of Practice documents are not intended to impose a standard of clinical patient care, but recommend a reasonable approach to, and best practices for, the provision of care.

The writing group was established by the CIRSE Standards of Practice Committee and consisted of eight clinicians with internationally recognised expertise in emergency interventional radiology. The writing group reviewed the existing literature on emergency interventional radiology, performing a pragmatic evidence search using PubMed to search for publications in English and relating to human subjects preferably published from 2010 to 2025. The final recommendations were formulated through consensus.

Interventional radiology has a well-established role in the successful management of a broad variety of emergency conditions. This Standards of Practice document provides up-to-date recommendations for the safe and sustainable delivery of 24/7 emergency interventional radiology care.