Recently our Trust was able to introduce a seven-day mechanical thrombectomy service, thanks to the hard work of our Interventional Radiology team. A mechanical thrombectomy is a procedure used to treat acute stroke patients by removing blood clots from the brain.

To find out more about this specialist procedure, and what else the team gets up to, we spoke to one of our lead interventional radiographers, Sarah McSweeney (pictured), who has worked at our Trust for over 25 years and is hugely passionate about what she does.

“Our role is a speciality within radiology, and we’re based in theatres – so we sit in the middle and many people don’t know about us and what we do.

As radiographers, we use x-ray in our procedures, treating people from the inside using highly specialised equipment. Traditionally this would have been done via neurosurgery and involved opening a patient’s brain, which is much more invasive.

In a mechanical thrombectomy, the interventional neuroradiologist goes in through a patient’s groin, using tiny tubes. Guided by x-ray, we go into the brain to find and remove the blood clot.

A successful mechanical thrombectomy can mean a stroke patient will walk out of hospital within days with no long-term effects, when previously they could have faced lifelong disability. It’s an intricate operation which is minimally invasive.

We take referrals from all over Essex and Suffolk; recently we had a patient from Norwich brought by air ambulance. In one weekend on call I was in from 10.30am until 11pm – we had three strokes, one after the other.

In some neurointervention cases, however, neurosurgery is still required and we work very closely with our neurosurgeons. That’s one thing I love about interventional radiology, it’s multi-disciplinary so I get to work with a huge team – including interventional nurses, anaesthetists and operating department practitioners. Procedures can’t go ahead without everyone and we have a great team and really work well together.

We’re a very busy centre and my job is so rewarding. It’s really gratifying seeing a patient who could have been permanently disabled, moving about after their procedure – it can be a real Lazarus Moment for some, like being pulled back from the brink.

That’s why we were so keen to expand our mechanical thrombectomy service, as it can have such a huge impact on our patient’s lives. I’m really proud of how the team has pulled together to ensure we can provide it for our patients.

The Covid-19 pandemic meant it was a bit more challenging as although we’ve recruited additional staff, some have not been able to start yet.

Everyone has gone above and beyond to make it happen, especially at a time when we’ve all been doing extra work because of the pandemic. Everyone was asked to do more and was happy to, as we’re all so passionate about what we do.

We work a lot with stoke patients, however, we do many other procedures too. Such as angiograms in which we use a special dye to examine blood vessels, and other vascular and neurological procedures, looking at any abnormalities in the brain. Our role includes treating and diagnosing patients.

I’ve worked at our Trust for my entire career, after a placement during my radiography training. I love the camaraderie and how busy it is. Neuro intervention is my passion.

I’ve working in interventional radiology for about 20 years and it’s changed hugely in that time. How my role has developed is what has kept me in our Trust – it’s amazing the things that we can do.

We have a really good attitude in our team and everyone has pulled together during the pandemic, which is a really good feeling. I don’t think everyone can say that they’re completely fulfilled in their job, like I am.”