Palliative IR: Solving the Unsolvable

Monday, April 13, 2026

1:15 PM - 2:30 PM ET

Location: 714B

Coordinator(s)

David Prologo, MD

Division Director, Vice Chair
Emory University School of Medicine/Emory Healthcare, United States
Neil Resnick, MD, FSIR

Vice Chair & IR Division Chief
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, United States

This session is intended to define a "blue ocean" for interventional radiology - beyond the basics of pain interventions currently being performed in IR. Specifically, advanced cancer patients and patients with difficult pain syndromes requiring palliative care represent an area where interventional radiology can problem solve using our expertise/tools, help human beings, and expand our skillsets.

Learning Objectives:

Define the population of patients referred to as "palliative" patients and differentiate them from the foundational advanced interventional pain management population (arthritic knees, intervertebral disc disease, nerve blocks).
Delineate the problem solving approach necessary for management of these patients and contrast that approach to the antiquated "request for procedure" model.
Describe a long-term clinical care model that involves management of implantable devices, such as intrathecal pain pumps or spinal cord stimulators, for patients with pain requiring palliative interventions.

Presentations:

1:15 PM - 1:24 PM ET

Palliative Interventions: A Blue Ocean for Interventional Radiologists
Speaker: David MD Prologo, MD – Emory University School of Medicine/Emory Healthcare
1:24 PM - 1:33 PM ET

Advanced Imaging Guidance for Palliative Interventions
Speaker: Neil J. Resnick, MD, FSIR – University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
1:33 PM - 1:42 PM ET

Cryoneurolysis: Predictable Denervation of Pain Generators
Speaker: Dimitrios Filippiadis, MD, PhD (he/him/his) – 2nd Department of Radiology, University General Hospital "ATTIKON" Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
1:42 PM - 1:51 PM ET

Intrathecal Pain Pumps: A New Frontier for Interventional Radiology
Speaker: George Zlotchenko, MD – University of Colorado
1:51 PM - 2:00 PM ET

Spinal Cord Stimulators in IR: New Technology for a New Time
Speaker: J. Dana Dunleavy, MD – Atlas Interventional Radiology (AIR)
2:00 PM - 2:09 PM ET

Problem Solving in Palliative Care - The Differentiator for Interventional Radiology
Speaker: Junjian Huang, MD (he/him/his) – Emory University School of Medicine
2:09 PM - 2:18 PM ET

Complex Case Review/Discussion
Speaker: Mehmet Fatih Inecikli, MD – Bursa Uludag University School of Medicine
2:18 PM - 2:30 PM ET

Q&A