Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt

Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) insertion is among the most technically challenging procedures in interventional radiology. It combines many of the skills used in other procedures such as venous access, biopsy, angioplasty, and stent-graft insertion into one IR tour de force. A great deal of literature is devoted to patient selection, technical aspects of the procedure, and utility of the procedure in different disease processes. This article describes the technical aspects of a so-called generic TIPS procedure. I focus on an otherwise uncomplicated procedure (if that actually exists) and leave the article on tough TIPS for another issue.