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Endovascular Surgery

Winter 2015

Healing from the inside out

A recovery that's as speedy and pain-free as possible—this is a key goal of endovascular surgery, a treatment for often serious blood vessel problems.

Endovascular means “inside blood vessels.” And that's exactly where doctors perform this minimally invasive surgery. Guided by x-ray images on a video screen, they thread tiny instruments into diseased or damaged vessels to fix them.

Chances are you're already familiar with the very first endovascular procedure—angioplasty, pioneered in the 1970s. In this procedure, doctors help restore blood flow in dangerously clogged arteries in the heart, lower legs and other parts of the body by inserting a slender tube into the artery and then inflating a balloon at its tip.

Each year in this country, doctors do almost 1 million balloon angioplasties to open heart arteries, the American Heart Association reports. As a result, many people have been spared bypass surgery, which requires opening the chest and temporarily stopping the heart.

Repairing dangerous weak spots

Today endovascular surgery is also used to repair aneurysms—weak spots in blood vessels that bulge and could burst and cause deadly bleeding. Often the surgery treats aneurysms that form in the aorta, the body's largest artery.

In the surgery, doctors make small incisions in the groin so that a tiny tube called a stent graft can be guided through blood vessels to the aneurysm. Doctors then expand the stent graft and anchor it in place inside the aorta. It reinforces the weakened section of the vessel, helping to keep the artery from bursting.

In contrast, conventional aneurysm surgery requires a major incision. Doctors cut into either the chest or the abdomen, depending on where the aneurysm is located. Next, they remove the fragile section of the aorta and replace it with synthetic material.

The benefits

Compared with conventional aneurysm surgery, endovascular repair has important advantages. Generally, patients have shorter hospital stays, less pain and fewer complications. Endovascular surgery may also be a safer option for anyone with a health problem that heightens the risks of major surgery.

The bottom line: Whenever surgery is a possibility, ask your doctor what all your options are and what benefits and risks they carry.

Martin Health Physician Group - Surgery (Stuart)

3801 S. Kanner Highway
Stuart, FL 34994

772.221.2003

M-F 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.

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Surgical - Vascular

1095 N.W. St. Lucie West Blvd.
Suite 220
Port St. Lucie, FL 34986

772.221.2003

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