An Update on Patient-Reported Outcomes in Interventional Radiology: The Future Measure of Our Success

Abstract

The field of interventional radiology continues to expand rapidly, offering an increasing range of alternatives to open surgical procedures. This minimally invasive imaging-guided approach promises faster recovery times and a theoretically improved patient experience; however, there is limited evidence documenting that these promises are actually delivered. Patient-reported outcomes are a way of collecting data on the patient experience increasingly used in clinical trials and the provision of surgical services and informing clinical practice across a range of elective procedures. Currently underutilised in interventional radiology, patient-reported outcomes have the potential to significantly impact how we deliver care by allowing evaluation of the perceived benefit derived by a patient after undergoing a procedure and to permit comparison with more invasive open procedures from the patient perspective.