ESR Essentials: Trauma Team and the Role of Interventional Radiology

These practice recommendations outline three key strategies for integrating Interventional Radiology (IR) into trauma management: embedding IR into multidisciplinary trauma teams with 24/7 availability in Level I centers; performing whole-body contrast-enhanced CT in stable or stabilizable patients to guide immediate embolization of active bleeding; and standardizing embolization protocols and material kits across trauma systems.

Trauma-related hemorrhage is a leading cause of preventable death. Although Interventional Radiology offers highly effective, minimally invasive solutions (such as transcatheter arterial embolization) for bleeding control and organ preservation, access to and integration of IR in acute trauma management remains inconsistent across European centers, lacking standardized clinical workflows.

Since the 2012 CIRSE quality improvement guidelines, technological and operational advances—such as hybrid emergency rooms, improved embolic agents (plugs, liquid agents), and the development of REBOA—have greatly expanded the clinical scope of IR. These practice recommendations transition the previous focus on procedural quality into a comprehensive, systems-level integration framework.