What does interventional mean in medical terms?

Answer 1

"Interventional" is a term used to describe a physician in one of many specialties who performs invasive procedures. A radiologist, cardiologist, pain medicine specialist, neurologist, etc. who places needles, catheters or other instruments into patients for diagnostic or therapeutic procedures, as opposed to a similar specialist who does only "noninvasive" tests and treatments, which generally do not involve breaking the skin, or do not go beyond a simple injection. Though often a valid differentiation, there is a tendency for the term to be utilized in an effort to connote a greater degree of expertise vis-a-vis others in that specialty, than may be warranted.