Interventional procedures

NICE makes recommendations about whether interventional procedures used for diagnosis or treatment are safe enough and work well enough for routine use.

An interventional procedure is a procedure used for diagnosis or treatment that involves one of the following:

• Making a cut or a hole to gain access to the inside of a patient's body - for example, when carrying out an operation or inserting a tube into a blood vessel.
• Gaining access to a body cavity (such as the digestive system, lungs, womb or bladder) without cutting into the body - for example, examining or carrying out treatment on the inside of the stomach using an instrument inserted via the mouth.
• Using electromagnetic radiation (which includes X-rays, lasers, gamma-rays and ultraviolet light) - for example, using a laser to treat eye problems.